Seasonal suits

The Maker

We have been unable to trace any information about the maker or origins of this deck. Although it has been attributed to Wüst, there is little solid evidence for this speculation.

The Cards

A typical deck from Germany in the early-mid nineteenth century. An interesting feature is that the clothing of the four double-figure Queens reflect the four seasons, with the Queen of Clubs representing summer, Diamonds autumn, Hearts winter and Spades spring.

By contrast, the garment worn by the Kings and Jacks do not appear to follow any particular pattern, and the pip cards are regular.

[ANONYMOUS]

Jeu Grotesque.

Publication [France, c1830].

Description

32 engraved playing cards with fine original hand-colour.

Dimensions 100 by 63mm (4 by 2.5 inches).

References Van den Bergh pp.222-223.

Keeping their cards close to their chests

The Maker

Nothing is known about the maker of this extraordinary deck of cards.

The Cards

Without a doubt one of the finest examples of all the extraordinary playing cards in circulation during the nineteenth century. It features a series of “grotesque” figures with playing cards for their chests.

The concept of the “grotesque” emerged in eighteenth century art and literature as a forerunner of the gothic; it involves distorted, mysterious or incongruous forms and ideas. The characters shown on the present cards can be categorised as “grotesque” due to their inhuman bodies and often the strange situations they are shown in, with the Seven of Hearts standing by a decapitated head, for instance.

The figures on the King and Queen cards are labelled with the names of Roman and Greek gods, while some of the pip and Ace cards are captioned as characters from literature and folklore, such as Doctor Diafoirus, Gargantua, Don Quichotte and Sancho.

Only a few copies of this deck are known, and it is remarkable that they are all different. The decks in the Schreiber collection, the Cary collection and in D’Allemagne, bear a strong resemblance to the cards that are displayed here. The deck in the collection Verame differs greatly, and is only printed in red, yellow and blue.

BACKOFEN, Johann Gottfried [Playing cards].

Publication [Nuremberg, J.G. Backofen, c1830].

Description

40 engraved playing cards with original colour, blue dot and asterisk pattern to versos.

Dimensions 92 by 57mm (3.5 by 2.25 inches).

References

Van den Bergh p.266, Yale 2062/GER131.

The Maker

The name of the maker is found on the upper shield on the Jack of Hearts, “Joh: Gottfried Backofen”, while his address, “in Gostenhof an Nürnberg N° 104” is found on the lower shield. Johann Gottfried Backofen (1773-1851) originally went to Nuremberg to study music, but later became a cardmaker, producing numerous decks over the course of his career, which stretched from 1809 to 1849.

The Cards

These are a typical example of the copper-engraved cards produced during the nineteenth century, which were then coloured using templates. The court cards feature a wealth of colour, including blue yellow, green, red and pink. Another interesting feature of the court cards is that many of the figures adopt the poses more commonly associated with others, such as the King of Spades, who is shown with the orb and sword in the style typically shown on the King of Hearts, while the Jack of Spades takes on the Jack of Diamond’s right profile.

The deck was designed to be used for the four-person card game known as ‘L’Hombre’. It was one of the earliest games played in Europe and became most popular during the sixteenth century, although the production of these cards suggests that it persisted three centuries later. ‘L’Hombre’ is played with 40 cards, with the Eights, Nines and Tens of all suits excluded. Although typically associated with the Spanish suit system, the present cards use the French.

WÜST, Conrad Lugwig

[Napoleon European Victories playing cards].

Publication Frankfurt, C. L. Wüst, c1830.

Description

52 engraved playing cards with fine original hand-colour, blue printed pattern to versos.

Dimensions 81 by 51mm (3.25 by 2 inches).

References Guiard 13; van den Bergh p.94; Yale 2068/ GER137.