There are playing cards, and then there are playing cards more than 600 years old. 

Rare book seller Daniel Crouch, of London, is hoping to sell all 2,500 decks and associated items from a private collection in one pop.


What You Need To Know

  • The Winter Show is the longest-running fair in the United States dedicated to fine art, antiques and design

  • The show is in its 71st year, a benefit for East Side House Settlement

  • The show is held at Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East Side

“We want to sell it all as one. I mean, it’s the greatest collection in private hands. It would make a great institutional library or private collection for someone who likes to gamble,” Crouch said.

The cards are just part of the multitude of items at the 71st Winter Show, which takes over the massive Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East Side with more than 70 exhibitors. There are paintings, sculpture, furniture, jewelry and more.

“We really represent a broad cross section of work spanning about 5,000 to 6,000 years, from antiquities through the present,” Helen Allen, executive director of the Winter Show, said.

The Winter Show began in the 1950s as an annual benefit for East Side House Settlement, a community-based organization founded on the Upper East Side in 1891. For decades, East Side House has served the Bronx and northern Manhattan.

“East Side House is what we would call a safe haven for so many families and so many young people to get the skills that they need and the education that they need to get the job that they need, and once they get into the economic mainstream, we make sure that they stay there,” executive director Daniel Diaz said.

The fundraiser features exhibitors from around the world and across the five boroughs. Liz Feld, managing director at Hirschl and Adler on East 57th Street, says it’s her firm’s 50th year at the show.

“This is the Super Bowl. This is not just an art event, this is a lifestyle event, this is the Upper East Side, this is New York, this is what people do in January in New York,” Feld said.

The show can be can be profitable for the exhibitors, and seems almost like a bunch of mini-museums were moved into the armory. 

“To discuss with dealers why they brought what they brought, some have come from very far away and made their decision to bring their best here, and to talk to them about why they brought it, why it’s so special, really reminds me of how exceptional this fair is,” Patrick Bavasi, director of Hyde Park Antiques in Union Square, said.

The show runs through Feb. 2. For tickets and more information, visit here.