Heather Hall Card Gallery - Historical and Medieval (pre-1650) Playing Card Reproductions

[hsbc]

Madame Heather Hall's historic playing cards are recreations of packs from 1650 and before, carefully researched and executed. Each pack design has been created by hand, not computer rendered, and thus has the unique imprint of the artist. Yet each pack is an authentic representation of the original. These cards are appropriate for any historic or modern game, and are the perfect addition to a period gaming box or collection.



Acanthus
Based on one of several playing card plates used to make a chest found near Lyons. Many court figures feature an acanthus like design on their late XV century garments. 52 French suited cards. In queue for a production run.


Mongol As Nas
Thought to be ancestral to poker, the name suggests the possibility that the game was introduced to the Turks by French soldiers. Oldest known fragments date to the XVII century, and are hand painted, unique works of art. This pack gives a nod to Mongolia, an influence connected to the person who motivated me to create the pack. Persian origin with Mongol figures. Non-standard pack construction for poker play. 25 backed cards with instructions. 90x64mm (poker sixe)



Cavalcade
Another pack from the plate fragments used to build a chest found near Lyons, these cards feature all mounted courts. With high-stepping horses and queens with floggers, packs like this may have been made for a specialty game, or perhaps it was just a part of the development of French cards. 15th century French suited cards with mounted courts. 52 backed cards with jokers. About 90x55mm




Dauphine
A rare Lyons export pack for Switzerland. No complete pack survives older than 1800. Bold styling and colors with mysterious valets. French suits. Late 16th century cards made in Lyons for export. Limited edition, with 52 backed cards and 50 Year jokers. Approximately 90 x 54mm




Digione! Burgundy
“Patterns” were often exported far afield, and can be embraced by printers far from the origins of the images. Modern poker cards are an example. Parts of two historic packs put together, Digione! features a late 16th century xylograph (the printed black lines) with palette and back design from a Florentine pack of the same pattern. Florentine style Burgundy pattern pack. 52 backed, French suited cards with jokers. 5x8cm




Draco
Also known as the Portuguese pattern, these Iberian origin cards were favorites of sailors, who carried them to Japan and further in the mid XVI century. Ornate cards feature dragons on the aces, as well as maiden "jacks", two of which are slaying dragons. Latin suited. Portugal adopts as national standard, with late 15th century Iberian origins. These are based on Franco Flores fragments. 52 backed cards, including anachronistic tens and jokers. 8x5cm




Eulenkonig
Another export pattern from Lyons, this pack is based on a fragment made by André Perrocet, who appears to have been active from 1491 to 1524. Some of the court figures can be seen in other patterns from this area. Late 15th/early 16th c pack. French suited, 52 plain backed cards. Approx. 87x52mm



Fantasia Italia
Based on fragments housed in Budapest, this pack may represent a Venetian export pack from about 1500. Some elements in the pack closely resemble the Mamluk cards thought to influence them, so the pattern may be much older. Exotic features like feathered mounts and wild men appear in the Latin style courts, and early indexes appear on the suit of batons. The suit of cups features a feminine “king” and “jack,” highlighting period perceptions of gender roles in the cards. 52 backed playing cards. Latin suited with fanciful kings, knights, jacks. Anachronistic jokers.





Firenze
Based on Rosenwald fragments, but a 52 card northern Italian pack suitable for poker rather than a 78 card tarot. Italian suited. Italian (Latin) suited pack based on TaRocchi. 52 backed cards, with anachronistic tens and jokers.



Fleurs
Based on one of several playing card plates used to make a chest found near Lyons. Late XV century, the court figures feature bold floral designs on their garments. 52 French suited cards. In queue for a production run.



Fougere Royale
Taken from one of several printing plates upcycled into a chest found on an estate near Lyon, France. The xylograph features more kings and queens than jacks, as do other plates that made up the chest. Dates to late XV century. 15th c Lyons box panel fragment featuring garments with botanicals. French suited, 52 plain backed cards. Approx. 90x52mm



Frauen aus Munchen
These cards are based on curious fragment sheets from the Munich area. Features burlesque elements and women figures. 54 Germanic suited cards with anachronistic aces and jokers. 50mm x 76mm.




Lila Fribourg
Lyons, France, was somewhat of an epicenter of playing cards production in the XV and XVI centuries. This pattern is one produced for export to Fribourg, Switzerland. The fragment referenced had once been in the collection of Sylvia Mann, and probably dates to the late XVI century. These cards features what she described as “vivid purple” pigment. 16th c French pack for export to Fribourg, Switzerland. French suited, 52 plain backed cards with jokers. Approx. 93x55mm



Maitre Jacques
Another pack created from one of several worn printing plates assembled into a chest, found near Lyons. This fragment, thought to be the oldest panel of the group, may also be the oldest surviving French suited pack design. Courts feature enormous crowns and robes, fidgety jacks with banderoles, and a queen with a pet. 52 plain backed cards, approx. 9x5cm



Middle Kingdom 50 Year
This pack was made at the request of HRM Edmund, King of the Middle Kingdom for the 50th Anniversary (SCA). The Xylograph is the Dauphine pattern, one of several that emerged from the Lyons area in the XV and XVI centuries. Anachronistic palette represents the Middle Kingdoms and her daughter kingdoms; Calontir, Northshield, and Ealdormere. French suited cards are further ornamented with heraldry and other symbols. 52 plain backed cards, with jokers. Approximately 90 x 54mm





Minchiate
Hypothetical expansion to TaRocchi, featuring cards that represent elements, virtues, and zodiac. Available as either the 20 card expansion or the 98 card TaRocchi/Minchiate full pack. 87x50mm



Morisca
Fournier dates the originals to the late XIV century. They were found in Seville, but could have been made as far afield as Ulm. Latin suited and finger-painted design, about poker size. Late 14th century finger painted style pack, oldest found in Europe. 52 plain backed cards. 95x65mm



Munchen
From fragments credited to Jorg Schwemer near 1520, with suits that have come to be modern German standard; leaves, hearts, acorns, hawk bells. This pack is easy to read for those new to German cards. Features Germanic courts with each suit having a king, ober, and unter, as well as banner tens. 16th century cards from Munich featuring traditional German suited, 52 backed cards with jokers. 68x45mm.




Olde English
These xylograph style cards are the first pack I recreated. Each court card has a hand carved block for the lines, and the colors filled in with stencil. Sized as modern poker cards, these are copies of my original run. Olde English Represents 17th century and later packs, and in a pinch will work for many decades of reenactment. 52 plain backed, French suited cards. Approx. 90x64mm



Luna Sauvage
A Lyonnais manufacturer named François Clerc was compelled to replace carreaux (diamonds) with crescent moons, and trèfles (clubs) with quatrefoils sometime between 1485 and 1496. His court figures, which give hints of later patterns, also include “wild” figures with hairy bodies.
52 uniquely French suited cards. In queue for a production run.


Suffolk Tudor
This pack reconstruction is produced by referencing several fragments from one of the patterns that emerged from Rouen, France. Some of these fragments were found under a house in Suffolk, UK. This pattern is ancestral to modern Anglo-American patterned packs, like poker and bridge cards. 16th century style pack based on fragments found in Suffolk, UK. 52 plain backed cards. Approx. 9x5cm



Swiss Basel
From a petite Swiss fragment from about 1580, features Germanic courts (king, ober, unter, banner tens) and Swiss suits (flowers, bells, acorns, shields). Small size is not unusual for Germanic packs. Mild burlesque elements. Petite 16th century Swiss suited playing cards. 52 backed cards with jokers. 60x35mm.




TaRocchi
One of the oldest and most complete printed tarot, probably produced in Florence at the turn of the sixteenth century. The printing plates of this pattern allowed the maker the ability to make several packs, including Spanish/Italian (48), tarot (78) and Minchiate (97). Originals are housed at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Italian suits. End of 16th century Florentine printed style tarot based on Rosenwald fragments. 78 backed cards. Approx. 87x50x25mm




Tensho Karuta
16th century early Japanese cards were based on imports brought by Portuguese sailors. Petite, similar to hanafuta cards, the size possibly due to the sailors trimming their cards from use and the Japanese copying what they saw. Like Portuguese cards, the aces feature dragons, and two of the maiden "jacks" are portrayed slaying dragons. 52 backed cards, including anachronistic tens and jokers. Petite. 70x40mm




Toledo
16th century Spanish suited playing cards, colorful and richly embellished. These cards were exported to Spain's colonies and their descendents are used today in many Spanish-speaking countries and southern Italy. 52 backed cards, with suits of spadas, copas, bastos, and oros. Also includes anachronistic tens and jokers. 90x47mm.



Tujeon
These were the type of cards used in Korea until Hanafuda imported from Japan took over. Surviving examples vary in size, but are usually thin strips of oiled paper or silk. Tujeon packs can have a dozen suits. Tujeon card games include Baccarat, Blackjack, and Ombre style games. Influences can be a mix of influences from China and Japan.



VADUZ
Based on enigmatic fragment sheets purchased in Lichtenstein. The sheets may have been of late 15th century origin, or perhaps a later antiquarian anachronism. This is a large pack that features a curious blend of German and Italian styles. A suit of schilten (escutcheons) was found with the pack, giving it a fifth suit. It may have catered to a variety of European cultures, or perhaps a specific game with very localized popularity. Latin suited and German courts with a fifth suit of shields. Plain backed, available bridge size (89x56x25mm) or original size (104x76x25mm).




Volunt
This pack is mostly based on a sheet from Frankfurt credited to Heinrich Hauk in 1585. Missing elements were filled with a similar contemporary fragment. German suits of acorns, hawk bells, flowers (like the swiss flower suit), and birds, with Germanic courts (king, ober, unter, banner ten). Contains burlesque elements. 16th century pack with historic German suits. 52 backed cards with jokers. 70x43mm

[Harvonsgard]

Wow. That's a hell lot of decks.

[Eric Lee]

Wow, that's a great find. Truly handmade for sure. These are worth the $20 per deck than most of the stuff you find on KS these days.