Pets at the gaming table

The Maker

The Jack of Clubs bears the maker’s imprint: ‘Industrie Comptoir in Leipzig’. For a description of the Industrie Comptoir, please see item 29.

The Cards

The title ‘Des Gourmands’ under which the present deck of cards was published fits perfectly with the displayed images. Kings, Queens and Jacks all feast on extravagent meals, and interestingly, the women have brought a variety of pets along to dinner, anything from cats to parrots. This theme also appears on the decks of other card-makers. The suit marks are shown in the upper left- and lower right-hand corners. The Ace and pip cards are presented simply, with the number of suit marks shown corresponding to the value of each card.

[ANONYMOUS]

Des théâtres et des journaux.

Publication [France, c1819].

Description

52 engraved playing cards with fine original hand-colour, plain white versos.

Dimensions 90 by 60mm (3.5 by 2.25 inches).

References BnF PET FOL-KH-384; Van den Bergh pp.166-167.

The Maker

Although this deck of cards clearly originated in France, we have been unable to trace any information about its maker.

The Cards

Two versions of the ‘Cartes à Rire’ deck exist, both characterised by their sense of humour.

The title of the present deck, ‘des théâtres et des journaux’, is not surprising, considering that the court cards show the popular newspapers and magazines of the day. The figures representing these publications are deliberately hyperbolic and satirical, mocking the politics of each one. The name “Figaro” on the Jack of Hearts is not the newspaper that we know today, but a short-lived earlier publication of the same name. The theme of the court cards changes on the second version, the ‘Jeu de cartes à rire de Thalia’, to focus on theater, dance and opera.

The pip cards in both decks are identical, displaying bizarre, tonguein-cheek caricatures and images in which the suit marks play a key role. Many of these transformation cards show club, diamond, heart and spade symbols as various cheeky body parts.

Facsimile editions later appeared in Italy and the United States, but the present original deck is extremely rare.

BELLANGE, Hippolyte

Cartes Recréatives 1819.

Publication

Paris, A. G. H[oubigant], 1819.

Description

32 engraved playing cards with fine original hand-colour, with additional title card and extra card, versos white.

Dimensions 89 by 60mm (3.5 by 2.25 inches).

References Giuard 222; Van den Bergh pp.160-161.

The Maker

The present cards were designed by Hippolyte Bellangé. Bellangé was best-known for his paintings and prints of French battles, particularly during the Napoleonic era.

The extra card shows the initials “A.G.H.”, allowing the deck to be attributed to Armand-Gustave Houbigant. A caricature portrait of the publisher also appears on the box. For a description of Houbigant, please see item 31.

The Cards

With few known copies and deviations in the size of the existing examples, there remain a great many mysteries associated with the present deck.

It consists of 32 cards, as well as a title card, which identifies the title as ‘Cartes Recréatives 1819’, and an extra card, on which the deck is explained. The Ace and court cards show historical and mythological figures, while the pip cards depict quaint and whimsical scenes from everyday life.

These pip cards are in the “transformation” style popular at the time. Houbigant had previously mocked this new vogue, saying that a man could no longer pick up a pencil without card-makers flocking to him to demand new designs.

Of the known decks, the present example is the only one in colour.

NICOLLE, H.

Jeu Geographique et Mythologique.

Publication [Paris, H. Nicolle, c1819/1820].

Description

32 engraved playing cards with text, fine original hand-colour, marbled pattern to verso.

Dimensions 93 by 63mm (3.75 by 2.5 inches).

References

British Museum Schreiber Sheets French 13; van den Bergh p.65; Yale 2610/FRA310.