Inlaid card-press

Sri Lanka, early 19th century

Height: 8 1/2 inches, 21.5 cm
Width: 11 3/4 inches, 30 cm
Depth: 4 1/4 inches, 11 cm

An inlaid wooden card-press with a long rectangular base slightly sloping on either side, the central section with four rectangular upright pillars connected by a bridge-like top. A metal rod extends through the centre of the bridge and is attached to a heavy central press section, which fits neatly around the horizontal pillars. The metal rod has a bone finial and can be pulled upwards and pressed downwards. The base is inlaid with a bone foliate decoration and a chevron type banding around the edges. The heavy movable central press is inlaid with incised bone and a similar chevron banding.

This highly unusual playing card press is inlaid in bone and ivory.  When the bone knob is lifted, a pack of cards can be inserted and then the plunger is pressed down. Playing cards were considered a luxury item in the past that only wealthy people owned. As playing cards were considered valuable they were sometimes preserved in a card press. A comparable inlaid card-press from Sri Lanka is in the collection of Christopher Ondaatje.[1]

1. Weereratne, N., Visions of an Island, Rare Works from Sri Lanka in the Christopher Ondaatje Collection, London, 1999, page 140