34 machines looking for a new home

The National Museum of Playing Cards (Belgium) is looking for a new home for 34 machines

As part of work that Museums Turnhout has undertaken on its inventory an evaluation process has been carried out over the past six months concerning 58 historical items of printing equipment currently stored in the National Museum of Playing Cards’ off-site depôt. The main items in the list are letterpress and lithographic presses, guillotines and board cutters, process cameras, engraving machines and bookbinding equipment.

The conservation and management unit of the Museum was able to call on a number of experts from the field for this project. The team collected the necessary information related to the function of the machines, the manufacturer, the distributor and the origin. All machines were tested against a number of criteria, including their material condition, rarity, historical and scientific value, experiential value and, above all, whether a similar machine is already present in the collection of the National Museum Playing Cards’ collection. In this way it has been possible to determine which machines should remain with the collection and which can be repurposed or disposed of.

Repurposing and disposal will take place in three phases:

  • May-June 2022: repurposing to other museums and cultural institutions as a function of the techniques which they study or display (free).
  • From the end of June 2022: repurposing to private collectors (for a fee).
  • End of August – September 2022: sale at two auction times.

This is the list of equipment that will be repurposed or divested. If you are interested, please send an email to behoudenbeheer@turnhout.be. Keep in mind the different phases of this project.

Click on image to see full screen