Antique French Hand-Colored No Indices Playing Card Deck with 1853 Mark, 51 Cards carved stone boot ) I'd guess it might

) I'd guess it might have been made as a card box (I believe two decks would fit inside)

I think they're a pretty brilliant expression of the skill and creativity of their makers

The is small piece of the gold grip of the ink pen that appears to have broken off on its back side

(And certainly one might add a few more favorite little animals to the mix

with a measure mark on one side

Antique French Hand-Colored No Indices Playing Card Deck with 1853 Mark, 51 Cards carved stone boot ) I'd guess it mightIt's been a long time since I've found a beautiful 19th century deck of cards, despite looking for them all of the time. This one is missing one card the seven of clubs but more than makes up for it I think with the unusual Jack of Hearts, which shows a unique error in coloration the red is much darker than the rest but was kept in the deck anyway! There is an 1853 Gatteaux duty mark on the Jack of Clubs but no addition duty stamp, meaning this deck