[acetofive] Selected Cards c1860+

[acetofive]

One of two decks published in 1955 by Handa of Copenhagen, to commemorate Hans Christian Andersen's 150th birthday. The courts illustrate scenes from Andersen's fairy tales, based on Vilhelm Pedersen's original black and white engravings. The artist of these colored versions is unknown apart from "Th J" appearing on the AS (lower right, just above the corner index), the AC, and partially on the AD. To see the other deck, visit: DXPO

[acetofive]

2010 reproduction (artcol.ru), Adolf Charlemagne, patience playing cards, Russia, probably designed in the early 1860s, printed 1870s. Known as the "Travelers" or "Traveling" deck.

[acetofive]

Axel Orn (b.1880), printed by Handa, Copenhagen, 1965. Axel Orn was a Danish portrait and landscape painter. These were published by his son in honor of his 85th birthday. Printrun of about 2000.

[acetofive]

"Return of Temple Bar to the City," Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards, Color Digital Printing, 2003. This is a faithful, high fidelity reproduction of New York Consolidated Card Company's 1897 Mediaeval pack, but with a new back design and three extra cards (the original joker, back, and Ace of Spades), I'm guessing scanned from the original set they have in their collection. It took me awhile to discover that this deck existed - it's not typically labeled as a reproduction of the NYCCC Mediaeval cards, so it flies under the radar if that's what you're looking for. 350 gold and silver gilded twin packs were made. Typical selling price for the original NYCCC issue is around $800 - $1500.

The new back design commemorates the return of the Temple Bar to London in 2003-2004. The Temple Bar, an English Baroque arch passageway completed in 1672, originally stood guard just outside London's financial district. In the late 1800s it was disassembled and moved to a private estate, where it stayed until the early 2000s, when efforts succeeded in having it returned to London's Paternoster Square, across from St. Paul's Cathedral, a few blocks from its original location.

[acetofive]

Dondorf, Elsässer Bild, No 414, 1929.

[acetofive]

Just arrived. 52+J(x4), hand painted over a standard deck by Riley Sheehey. Auto favorite.

[brownsl]

I just got my 2 decks also. Have not opened one yet.

[acetofive]

I just got my 2 decks also. Have not opened one yet.

Hey brownsl! I'm glad these came out now. If these were antique I'd be emptying my bank account for them.

Incidentally, you had me curious so I looked up UUSI Le Jeu De Tarot decks. Gorgeous. I hope you find yours.

[acetofive]

Luxuskort (Luxuskarte) No75, printed by Dondorf for the Danish firm Adolph Wulff of Copenhagen, c1910-1930.

[acetofive]

Dondorf's Tarot deck, No.78E for Adolph Wulff of Copenhagen, sold in Denmark. "Tarok" appears on the cover of the box. 78 of 78 cards. The first decks were printed about 1870, first hand colored with stencils, later in chromolithography. Braun dates 78E as 1910, but also 1931 for this variation (V4). The tax stamp (AD) suggests a sale prior to 1918 (P. Endebrock), so I'll date these "early 20th century." See our comments below about the use of the terms "tarot" and "tarok."

The four French suits represent figures and architecture from four world cultures: Hearts for France, Clubs for Germany, Diamonds for United Kingdom, and Spades for Russia. Text on the cards is in French. The major arcana (the numbered cards) are divided into six groups: #1, The Juggler; #2-5, cultural treasures (first from Germany, then Russia, England, and France); #6-9, various occupations; #10-13, noble men and women; #14-17, family, hunting, and gallantry; #18-21, courtly gestures. Then last the unumbered "Excuse" card (The Fool). An older version can be seen here: viewtopic.php?p=168262#p168262

[GandalfPC]

https://www.wopc.co.uk/explore/game/tarock/

[Honeybee]

A25 that deck is simply stunning!

[acetofive]

Thank you Honeybee, more great chromolithography from Dondorf.

^^ Hi Gandalf, also...

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/252567/tarock-or-tarot
https://boardgamemanuals.fandom.com/wik ... cchi_games

Historically, by way of the traditionally published literature I use to identify cards, "Tarot," "Tarok," "Tarock," and "Tarot Microscopique" have all been used to identify this deck. It's Tarot in Fournier, and Tarok/Tarot in Braun. After discovering this rabbit hole, I dreaded making a big megillah about it. I'm hoping a brief description will help someone find the deck if they're interested. All of those terms can help someone find it.

The #1 card is also sometimes described as a magician. Juggler is a reference from WOPC and others.

[kevork]

If there is something that playing cards has helped me appreciate, is the various forms of printing that exist and have been used to create art, especially chromolithography, intaglio, etc. If I could go about creating something using these old techniques, I anticipate I'd feel so satisfied due to the efforts involved. What a fantastic job by Dondorf and what pristine cards to have scanned. Thank you for sharing ace!

[acetofive]

These are not in my collection. I wish these were in my collection.

Dondorf No955, an advertising deck for Peters Union Reifen, a German tire manufacturer. The Ks and Qs are motorists, the Jacks are mechanics. It's beautiful artwork - and rare. These are pages from Dondorf Spielkarten by Klaus-Jürgen Schultz and Kay Stolzenburg (2016). A book I recommend if you're interested in chromolithography and Dondorf history.

The cards were produced in 1928, a year before Flemming and Wiskott started dismantling the company. They were sold for only a short time, accounting for their rarity. After years of never seeing these for sale and finding only two samples on the internet (Peter Endebrock on his website, and a photo of the deck behind glass at an exhibition), I asked a handful of European collectors about them. Only one collector could recall a single deck exchanging hands in his 40 years of collecting. (Update Aug 2025: a 32 card deck appeared for sale, asking price €3,800/$4,370)

[Honeybee]

The artists in the card industry a century ago were exceptional

[acetofive]

Dondorf's Club Karte was one of Dondorf's workhorse house patterns. The first deck appeared about 1860 and stayed in print through 1933 (and even beyond that but by different owners), with changes made to just about every design element - backs, aces, indices, and corners.

Earlier in this thread (pg 5) I posted one variation. Here are a few more to compare. The last four scans are from the same deck. Dates are based on Braun's catalog.

You can see a very early version here WOPC and DXPO

[acetofive]

Facsimile, Löschenkohl's Musikalisches Kartenspiel (Musical Playing Cards), published by Piatnik, Vienna, 1981. First published in 1806 by J. Löschenkohl, a Viennese engraver, produced on copper plates and hand colored. The pip cards are sheets of music of songs, and music by Mozart. The Kings are dressed as if about to appear on stage for a theatrical performance, each with a musical instrument. The Queens are shown as a pianist, singer, dancer and guitarist. The only known original set is housed in the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna. The little book is 107 pages in German and English.

[acetofive]

Entwurf eines Mittelalter-Spiels: “Design of a Medieval Game”
Another few pages from Schultz/Stolzenburg's Dondorf Spielkarten. The artwork for this deck was started by Dondorf sometime after 1905, but wasn't finished. These proofs came from Schlossmuseum Altenburg.

The book doesn't say if these are the only copies. Of the small handful of books I have about Dondorf and European cards, Schultz/Stolzenburg is the only one that mentions them. Here is a translation of the text:

“The cards are a design of a new card design by Dondorf, which most likely never went on sale as a finished game. The design is partly missing the color and index symbols, so that the assignment of the king and queen for clubs and spades is not clear; it was done here according to the arrangement in the pattern book. The figures point to the Middle Ages. Three kings and, unusually, three women hold a sceptre, almost all with a bird on top. The eagle sceptre, adopted from the Romans, is a coronation symbol of the emperors of the German nation and indicates the renewal of the Western Roman imperial dignity."

[acetofive]

Le Jeu des Musiciens, 1984, Silvia Maddonni, by France Cartes, Grimaud, France.

[kevork]

I've seen this deck around! Beautiful artwork

[acetofive]

Thank you Kevork. Here's another.
Le Jeu des 4 Opéras, Silvia Maddonni, 1989-1990, Grimaud, France. Despite the title, 5 operas are represented if you count the jokers (Carmen). The others are: Hearts - The Magic Flute, Diamonds - Tales of Hoffmann, Clubs - The Golden Cockerel, and Spades - Rigoletto.

[felicityk]

Entwurf eines Mittelalter-Spiels
Another few pages from Schultz/Stolzenburg's Dondorf Spielkarten. The artwork for this deck was started by Dondorf sometime after 1905, but wasn't finished. These proofs came from Schlossmuseum Altenburg, which I think is this:
https://www.residenzschloss-altenburg.d ... useum.html.

AAAAAGH! There is nothing so frustrating as falling in love with an unpublished deck.

I am new to this section of the forum and glad to find another vintage card lover. You have a very impressive collection. In my thread I've already shown two of my most expensive acquisitions, the Ludwig Burger Deutsche Spielkarte and the Schweizer Luxus-Jasskarte.

[acetofive]

Very glad you're here. I love seeing more cards. If you look closely through some of the collections of other members here, you can spy many nice vintage decks. The unfinished medieval deck in Schultz's book is beautiful, isn't it? I wish there was a reproduction for it. Same with the Peters Union deck. I think both decks share the same artist. There are a few Dondorf decks which are uncollectable or nearly so. The Hohenzollern deck is another, although there is at least one Hohenzollern deck out there shared publicly, and another in what look like proof sheets. You can see the Hohenzollern cards here http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/decks02/d00316/d00316.htm.

[acetofive]

Miniature version of Dondorf's Internationales Bild für Portugal, an English court pattern exported to Portugal. Shown here both to scale (approximately) and enlarged side by side with their full sized counterparts. I couldn't figure out a precise date for the mini version but the full size cards were issued 1867-1895. You can see a scan of the rest of the full sized courts earlier in this thread. 93x64. Miniature cards 45x30.

[atzenhofer]

There is really nothing more to say than that your collection is marvelous! I just scrolled through it a bit and it's amazing.
Looking forward to see much more. The book you made about your collection is awesome. It awakened the wish to do something similar.


The Bild für Portugal is my favorite "reworked" English standard pattern. I'd love if this variant were the standard pattern printed nowadays.
I find it rather interesting that the King of Spades is the one stuck with a sword in his head and not the King of Diamonds.
What does the back of the mini Bild für Portugal look like? Is it as fancy as the full size ones?

[Honeybee]

atz is right - they are simply stunning !

[acetofive]

Thank you both!

^^ If you scan for a print on demand service to make a book, I recommend scanning at 718dpi and save as a .tif. Then resize to fit the exact dimensions of the layout's image box, save that file as a png, and that's what goes into your book. I wish like heck I had known that when I started. I made an entire book with 300dpi scans saved as jpegs, and every deck that wasn't a chromolithograph (anything after about 1935 - all offset printing), plus a few old Mullers and Wusts (Muller's Swiss scenic aces are good examples), resulted in very noticeable moire patterns. I had to rescan every one of them. This produces huge files, but scanning at 718 reduced to near zero moire patterns without additional filtering, which introduces blurring to hide the pattern. I tried several filtering techniques and didn't like any of them. I was told anything higher than 300 is a good start, but another experienced book maker told me to try 718 and poof, no moire patterns right off the bat. All of this is tested through PDF proofs prior to printing the book.

The miniature Portugal deck back is blank. See the lower left corner of the scan with all the courts. That's usually the position I use for the back.

You've jogged a very old memory - someone was talking about that King of Spades, and I can't remember the conversation (seems to be happening more these days). If I think of it...

Thank you so much for the kind words. It's fun here.

[atzenhofer]

Thank you for the heads up, I'll keep that in mind.

See the lower left corner of the scan with all the courts.

Oh god, I think I'll need glasses soon

[acetofive]

Thank you for the heads up, I'll keep that in mind.

See the lower left corner of the scan with all the courts.

Oh god, I think I'll need glasses soon

Well, it is blank, not attracting much attention.