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Published July 03, 1996 Updated July 02, 2022

Cadiz style by La Primitiva, Bs Aires c.1905.

Cadiz style playing cards produced by or for La Primitiva, Victoria 3179, Buenos Aires c.1905. The cards have the black 'Mercury' tax stamp on the four of cups.

1905 Argentina La Primitiva Naipes Comas NEGSA Cadiz-Pattern Add to Collection
Fabrica de Naipes La Primitiva, Buenos Aires, c.1878-1920

La Primitiva, Victoria 3179, Buenos Aires c.1878-1920, manufacturers of paper and playing cards.
Also at Moreno 248 and Defensa 125, Bs. As.

La Primitiva was registered as a paper mill in 1878. The cards shown below date from the early 1900s and have the black 'Mercury' tax stamp on the four of cups. The reverse has a red trellis pattern. The design of the cards matches the Cádiz-Catalan style pattern made by Sebastian Comas y Ricart (Barcelona, Spain) so was likely manufactured by Comas and customised for La Primitiva. This colourful design pattern continued to be imported into Argentina for many years, see later example here

Cadiz style playing cards manufactured by Sebastian Comas y Ricart for La Primitiva, Buenos Aires, c.1905

Above: Cadiz-Catalan style playing cards manufactured by Sebastian Comas y Ricart (Barcelona) for La Primitiva, Buenos Aires, c.1905

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By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.


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