![[SOUTH SEA BUBBLE]. A set of playing cards satirizing speculation schemes. [London: Bowles, after 1720].](https://www.christies.com.cn/img/LotImages/2019/CKS/2019_CKS_17706_0322_001(south_sea_bubble_a_set_of_playing_cards_satirizing_speculation_schemes_d6247877075259).jpg?w=1)
细节
[SOUTH SEA BUBBLE]. A set of playing cards satirizing speculation schemes. [London: Bowles, after 1720].
Attractive set of playing cards inspired by the scandal of the ‘South Sea Bubble’. A very eloquently graphic account of the most pervasively devastating financial crash before the Great Depression: the collapse of John Law’s South Sea and Mississippi schemes, and the uncovering of similar get-rich-quick schemes across Europe. Bowles and his successors portrayed dozens of genuine or bogus joint-stock companies being set up in 1719 and 1720 at the time of the South Sea Bubble to entice investors. Cards of satirical content belonged in a cherished genre, but it was only with the South Sea Bubble, which involved investors throughout Europe, that the satire targeted the financial world. After a few years, graphic commentary of this kind was replaced by caricatures. These cards are fully functional as playing items, with a full set of suits and numbers, and in fact bear the light wear of actual use. They offer a fascinating catalogue of insurances and other schemes to which British investors fell prey: Holy Island - Salt; Bastard Children; Whale Fishery; Drying Malt by the Air; Water Engine; Hemp & Flax; Raddish Oil; Pensilvania Company; Settling Collonies in Accadia North America; Bahama Islands; Greenland Trade; Office for cureing the Grand Pox or Clap; Sugar; Bleeching of Hair; Lending Money upon Bottom-Ree; Lute-String; Irish Sail Cloth. Clayton (Book illustration, p. 235) points out that the packs were priced rather expensively, and would have attracted reasonably moneyed buyers. S. Mann, Collecting English playing-cards, 1978, p. 19.
52 individual black or red engraved cards (each 95 x 63mm), with miniature standard cards in upper corner, blank versos, remains of duty stamp to corner of the ace of clubs (lacking title card, as often, a little worn from use); preserved in a modern box.
Attractive set of playing cards inspired by the scandal of the ‘South Sea Bubble’. A very eloquently graphic account of the most pervasively devastating financial crash before the Great Depression: the collapse of John Law’s South Sea and Mississippi schemes, and the uncovering of similar get-rich-quick schemes across Europe. Bowles and his successors portrayed dozens of genuine or bogus joint-stock companies being set up in 1719 and 1720 at the time of the South Sea Bubble to entice investors. Cards of satirical content belonged in a cherished genre, but it was only with the South Sea Bubble, which involved investors throughout Europe, that the satire targeted the financial world. After a few years, graphic commentary of this kind was replaced by caricatures. These cards are fully functional as playing items, with a full set of suits and numbers, and in fact bear the light wear of actual use. They offer a fascinating catalogue of insurances and other schemes to which British investors fell prey: Holy Island - Salt; Bastard Children; Whale Fishery; Drying Malt by the Air; Water Engine; Hemp & Flax; Raddish Oil; Pensilvania Company; Settling Collonies in Accadia North America; Bahama Islands; Greenland Trade; Office for cureing the Grand Pox or Clap; Sugar; Bleeching of Hair; Lending Money upon Bottom-Ree; Lute-String; Irish Sail Cloth. Clayton (Book illustration, p. 235) points out that the packs were priced rather expensively, and would have attracted reasonably moneyed buyers. S. Mann, Collecting English playing-cards, 1978, p. 19.
52 individual black or red engraved cards (each 95 x 63mm), with miniature standard cards in upper corner, blank versos, remains of duty stamp to corner of the ace of clubs (lacking title card, as often, a little worn from use); preserved in a modern box.
荣誉呈献
Eugenio Donadoni