Braque and Picasso spearheaded the development of Cubism in its earliest form throughout 1909-10. Both artists continued to drive the evolution of avant-garde art during the following decade, albeit interrupted by the First World War. Braque led the continued interest in Cubist principles that were more widely accepted at the end of the First World War thanks in part to representation by Léonce Rosenberg and the writings of the dealer, critic and theorist Henry Kahnweiler. Braque was followed in kind by such important figures as Juan Gris, Fernand Léger and Jean Metzinger amongst others. This work from 1921 is a precise example of Braque’s maturing style. In it he depicts the quotidian symbols of common social interaction – indications of a normality that was returning after the Great War – including a pipe, a playing card (from which the work is titled), a diced pear, and a bowl located on a table in front of a panelled wall. These elements are then synthesised within Braque’s cubist style, which forces the objects to succumb to a new modern dynamic.