Trick tables, training cards, special etiquette: a visit to the What Is Life? A Game! exhibition
The Kuskovo Memorial Estate invites everyone to the exhibition called What Is Life? A Game! focused on card and parlor games so important for the culture of the late 18 th -19 th century gentry. There you could see tables for players to sit at, and other items, such as a puzzle service, porcelain items depicting the game, and card accessories.
From crime to charity
A common belief is that gambling in Russia started in the 16 th century. However, playing games of chance was considered a crime. Later, in the mid-17 th century, a document On Thieving and Robbery, was published demanding severe punishment for gamblers (up to death penalty sometimes).
Peter the Great changed that, softening the punishment down to fines. Empress Elizabeth I introduced further liberalization: in 1761, card games were officially divided into games of chance, and commerce games. The latter (including, e. g. Russian Preference) were regulated by law, and the winnings taxed.
The next Empress, Catherine the Great, was quite lenient about cards as a pastime, but only among family or friends. In other cases, just like before, winners had to pay a certain share of their winnings to the state. Funny, but Catherine herself liked to play cards, betting jewels instead of money.
In the 19 th century, popularity of card games exploded. Officers, landed nobles, commoners, everyone played cards: whist, schtoss, trésept, etc. were among the most popular ones. Love of cards spread to literature and was amply reflected there, with Pushkin’s Queen of Spades being entirely focused on gambling. Lermontov, Gogol, Chekhov, and numerous other classic writers described their characters playing cards.
Young nobles were taught card games from childhood. Aversion to cards was frowned upon in high society: refusing to play was considered impolite. Cards were also often used as teaching aids, to help learn geography, astronomy, Latin, etc. Some of these rare decks can be found at the Kuskovo exhibition.
Card games were surrounded in all sorts of rules and etiquette quirks not to be broken. You had to pay out any card debt within 14 hours after the game. No noble with an ounce of honor could even think of refusing to pay. Another important rule: every new game started with a new deck to prevent cheating. Used decks were thrown under the table, to be collected later and straightened in special presses. There were other gambling accessories, like pieces of chalk used to write down winnings or losses on the broadcloth surface of the table. Those marks were then erased with special brushes.
Card sale revenues were handed over to orphanages and charity boarding schools, to offset the destructive side of gambling with charity.
Card tables as luxury items
Special tables for card games used to be made in Russia, France, and Germany, among other countries. Ordered by nobles, they were richly decorated with flowers or landscape done in the marquetry technique, a type of wood inlay. Pieces of precious wood were applied to a veneer frame to form a single mosaic pattern or design. In Russia, card tables were widely called ‘ombre tables, ’ after the popular game.
Their surfaces were varied and intricate in their design. The middle part was covered with broadcloth used for markings, numbers, wins, or losses. Hollows on four sides served as holes for chips.
The most popular type of ‘ombre table’ had a folding top. One of the items on display was made by Christian Meyer, owner of a large furniture shop in St. Petersburg, official Imperial Court supplier, in the 1780s or 1790s. His pieces were famous for their fine craftsmanship and special decor elements that served as his calling card. He liked floral ornaments, contrasting types of wood, the colors blue and green.
Another table at the exhibition is a little younger, from the 1720s−1730s. It has not one, but two surfaces that unfold like pages in a book. Each one has a playing field: one for chess, and one for the “mill” game popular at that time (a strategy game where one had to take all the opponent’s chips). Another feature of the table is secret drawers on each of its four sizes where you could store chips or other accessories.
Tables that could be used for both game and fortune telling were also popular. The Museum Reserve has one of those in its collection. The table was made in Western Europe in the latter half of the 19 th century. There are four rounded extensions, or “petals” surrounding its tabletop. They could be folded up or down via a lever, so the table took the shape its owner needed for a given pastime.