1381 Old Painted Ganjifa Playing Cards – Andhra Pradesh

*** Not for Sale / Personal ***

 

Set of Dashavatara Ganjifa Cards with Inscription on court cards

Inscription language appears to be Telugu

Rarely available

Stiffened & Lacquered with a thick layer of laquer that makes it thick and hard-plastic-like.

The base is probably layered & handmade paper.

Appear to have been painted on warak that gives it the iridescent effect and then lacquered.

Gold illuminated with warak to an unseen-before extent

Has inscriptions on the Court or Face Cards.

Each region in the country had its own form of the game. There was the Sawantwadi Ganjifa from Maharashtra, Navadurga Ganjifa from Orrisa, Rajasthan and Gujarat Ganjifa, Kashmir Ganjifa, Nepal Ganjifa and the Mysooru Ganjifa which was greatly patronized by the Mysore Royal family during their reign.

This set appears to be from the Mysore group.

 The Jayalakhmi Wodeyar Palace Museum has one group of 150 dispersed cards that are kept in the treasury and viewing is by prior request only.

Collected from India in the mid 1900s

Age unknown

They were mounted previously and have now been dismounted.

Have signs of glue / shellac used for mounting on the back of the cards.

Not for Sale – listed purely for viewing pleasure

Acquired from a US dealer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This item has spent a lifetime being used for the purpose of its creation with the original artist/user. Signs of this life lived heartily may be present on the piece in the form of stains, thread loss, loose threads, holes, tears, color run and other imperfections. Therefore the condition must be assumed to be “not” perfect. More photos of such imperfections will be provided on request.

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