Help: Mystery Variation Shakespearean Cards

[acetofive]

I collect, for the most part, late 19th and early 20th century chromolithography. One of my favorites is the Frederick Colin Tilney Shakespearean deck (here). The original edition in chromolithography dates 1902, with two (or more) offset reprints in the 1920s and 1970s. I recently spotted a photo on the internet of an exhibition somewhere in Europe. In the background, fuzzy and out of focus, is a photo of these cards behind glass - but with entirely different back design, AoS, and box. I can't find them anywhere. What are they? You can see the cards I'm talking about here. The courts are well known - the mystery concerns the back, box, and Ace of Spades.

[Honeybee]

I feel like I have just seen that tuck box - as in this week. I will try and back track but I jump from one thing to another so much, I am not hopeful

Edit: Just found a joker with a balloon on a pole riding a donkey that looks somewhat similar so there is every chance that that was what my crazy brain was remembering But I have definitely been viewing Dondorf - Shakespeare decks lately so I will not give up yet

[Honeybee]

I was starting to think I was just going mad but I found that I visited this page 4 days ago, so I will keep looking

[acetofive]

Correct - those are reprints from the 70s.

[Honeybee]

I must give up (hard for me being somewhat obsessive). I had to go to that Worthpoint page (and I would think other related pages - possibly with the tuck of interest) from a 'Search' but despite meticulously going through my Search history I cannot find how I came to that page.

[acetofive]

This mystery has an answer. Mark Irwin recently posted an article featuring the mystery cards. I took down the picture of the mystery cards as the photo wasn't mine to share. (You can see the cards in the links below.) It was a picture showing the classic 1902 Swan Sonnenschien Shakespeare cards but with a different AS, back, and box. I couldn't figure out what these were (they didn't belong to any subsequent reproductions and WWPCM had no record of them) so I started asking about them. Found the answer in Mark's article. It was an advertising deck printed for the Munich Lion Brew Company soon after the original 1902 version was published. You may have to scroll around to find the article: https://dondorf.co.uk. This may be a better link - https://dondorf.co.uk/shakespeare-playing-cards or dominicwinter auctions.

[Honeybee]

Thank you, thank you Ato5 - my memory was indeed right!!!!!!!
When I opened your link above, I found that I already had it Bookmarked so I had indeed seen the tuck box prior to your Help request

[acetofive]

Thanks for your help in this.

[kevork]

I don't know if there's a particular issue with keeping the pics up acetofive, if you credit the source! All in the name of documenting historical information for future folk

[Lotrek]

I am actually planning to do a deck inspired of this one.
Just like I did with Golden Rule, which was inspired by the Dondorf Shakespeare deck.

[acetofive]

Golden Rule was well done.

Mark Irwin's article went a long way to clear up the question I had about the mysterious back and Ace of Spades.

[Honeybee]

I love the Munich Lion Brew edn especially that tuck

[acetofive]

I waited a looooonnnng time to find the deck I have now. It came without a box but there were no others on the horizon. And yes, I agree, I love both boxes. I think I've seen this original 1902 version for sale once in the last 5-6 years. Apart from the Dudley Ollis auction, I've never seen the Munich Lion version for sale (could have been, I've just never seen it).

[acetofive]

TL;DR

c1906: This is the AoS I saw behind glass in a tiny fuzzy picture on the internet. Thinking I knew the publishing history of this deck (the first three Aces), wondered where the heck did that come from? Mark Irwin had the answer - it's a redrawn advertising deck for Munich Lion Brewing Company, the rarest of the four. (Munich AoS source: Dominic Winters catalog - probably the Dudley Ollis collection).

[Lotrek]

I just did a first take on King Lear.

It was fun. I'll continue with that deck!