Fagin’s Gambling Cards
Part of a series of props for the character Fagin from Oliver Twist.
The lettering and illustrations were all hand drawn in pen and ink and then manipulated on photoshop to mimic an etching. They were then worn and distressed to appear well used and possibly

Gambling was rife in Victorian London. In ‘The Old Curiosity Works’ Charles Dickens writes about the addiction turning people to ruin. Reference images for Gambling cards were found in the V&A archive collection. Inspiration for the illustration style came from George Cruikshank’s early caricatures of English life. Cruikshank subsequently did the book plates for Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’.