The Queen of Hearts making tarts

Not your ordinary video game

The Maker

The present deck of cards was designed, drawn and possibly painted by John Nixon. For a description of Nixon, please see item 22.

The deck was published by Samuel and Joseph Fuller, brothers who ran a publishing firm that operated from 34 Rathbone Place, London, during the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1862, the premises were sold, along with all their stock; an advertisement for a local auction house ran:

“Extensive, Interesting, and Valuable Collection of Modern Engravings, and Illustrated Books, principally the Stock of Messrs. Fuller (sold in consequence of the retirement of the senior partner)”.

The Cards

The images on the present deck consist of light-hearted cards that are part illustration, part satire, of day-to-day life in contemporary Europe. There was no accompanying booklet with either explanation or description of the characters shown on the court cards, meaning that some of them remain rather ambiguous. One recognisable figure is Napoleon, while the King of Spades seems to feature Joseph Bonaparte, short-lived king of Spain from 1808 to 1813. The female figures are less specific: the Queen of Hearts is shown contentedly making tarts, while the Queen of Spades gazes at herself in a mirror, ominously attended upon by a skeleton. The pip cards exhibit some examples of the “transformation” style that was beginning to emerge, in which the suit marks become a key part of the central image. For instance, on the Eight of Spades, the spades symbols form the soldier’s helmets as they march in ranks. Similarly, on the Two of Diamonds, the heads of the two cribbage-players take on the shape of the diamond symbol. Cribbage was a game that emerged at the beginning of the seventeenth century and involved keeping score on a wooden board.

A reproduction of this deck was published for the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the English Playing Card Society.

[BAUMGARTNER, Friedrich Gotthelf]

[Jeu de Allies].

Publication Leipzig, Industrie Comptoir, c1815-1820.

Description

36 engraved playing cards with fine original hand-colour, blue star and dot pattern to versos.

Dimensions 90 by 53mm (3.5 by 2 inches).

References

Klaus-Jürgen Schultz, ‘Sieges-Karte von Friedrich Gotthelf Baumgärtner’; Parlett, ‘The Penguin Book of Card Games’, pp.141; Van den Bergh p.92-93; for similar see Yale 2166/GER234.

The Maker

The Seven of Hearts bears the name of the manufacturer, “Industrie Comptoir”. The Industrie Comptoir operated in Leipzig between roughly 1815 and 1850 under Friedrich Gotthelf Baumgartner. During this period the company published books and prints on a variety of themes and subjects, as well as cards. In addition to standard playing cards, the firm also produced cartomancy cards, which promised to help the user predict his or her future.

The Cards

The victorious German spirit in the aftermath of Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 is the inspiration behind the publication of this deck. The Industrie Comptoir also produced another deck celebrating the allied victory (see item 30), but while those use the French suits, the present edition shows the unique German suits: Acorns, Bells, Hearts and Leaves. This indicates that the deck was designed exclusively for the domestic market.

Another distinction is made in the name of the battle. In the aftermath, the leader of the Prussian army, Field Marshal Blücher, proposed that the conflict should go down in history as the ‘La Belle Alliance’, while the Duke of Wellington preferred the ‘Battle of Waterloo’. Consequently, the Knave of Acorns shows Blücher with a scroll reading “Belle Alliance” while the Knave of Hearts shows Wellington reading ‘Waterloo’.

The rulers of the most important countries of the Seventh Coalition are displayed as the four Kings:

Acorns – King Wilhelm I of Prussia

Bells – Tsar Alexander I of Russia

Hearts – Emperor Francis I of Austria

Leaves – King George III of Britain

Some of the pip cards show various other military personel from the supporting armies, while others depict symbols of the triumph and glory of the allied countries. Interestingly, the collection of Klaus-Jürgen Schultz contains a deck of cards simultaneously published by the Industrie Comptoir, which shows the same design but different engraving.

‘Napoleon’, or ‘Nap’ was a popular English card game in the nineteenth century. With ‘Nap, ‘Wellington’, and ‘Blücher’ all appearing as ‘bids’: “... Wellington may only be called against a player who has already bid Nap, and Blücher against one who has already bid Wellington... Blücher is only worth introducing with seven players...” (Parlett). ‘Nap’ was famously played by Jerome K. Jerome’s young voyagers in ‘Three Men in a Boat’.