Archaic and Obsolete Patterns
Navarra Pattern, 1682
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by Simon Wintle
Navarra pattern produced for the Pamplona General Hospital Monopoly in 1682.
Georg Kapfler
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by Simon Wintle
Antique deck of old Bohemian playing cards of the German type manufactured by Georg Kapfler and dated 1611.
Master of the Playing Cards
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by Simon Wintle
Animal suited playing cards engraved by the Master of the Playing Cards, Germany, c.1455
Naipes ‘La Criolla’ by Anabella Corsi
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by Simon Wintle
Inspired by an archaic Spanish pattern formerly used in Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Hewson
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by Simon Wintle
Antique English woodblock playing cards by a card maker named C. Hewson, mid-17th century.
Portuguese pattern
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by Simon Wintle
19th century Portuguese pattern, re-printed from original woodblocks.
XV Century Catalan Playing Cards
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by Simon Wintle
Uncoloured and uncut sheet of XV Century Catalan Playing Cards, featuring four female Sotas, four Aces and four cards from the suit of batons.
Malta
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by Simon Wintle
The so-called ‘Dragon Cards’, with winged monsters on the four Aces, are an enigmatic aspect of early playing card history.
Master of the Banderoles
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by Simon Wintle
Playing Cards by the Master of the Banderoles, one of the earliest professional printmakers, c.1470.
Moorish playing cards
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by Simon Wintle
These two uncoloured, uncut sheets of early Moorish playing cards were formerly preserved in the Instituto Municipal de Historia in Barcelona.
Gothic Spanish-suited cards
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by Simon Wintle
These cards may be a typical example of early 'standard' Spanish playing cards, maybe from before Columbus sailed for the 'New World' which were imitated by German engravers who wished to export their wares back to Spain.
Early Anglo-French Cards
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by Simon Wintle
Cards produced in Rouen during the sixteenth century. It was cards like these which were imported to England and are the ancestors of the modern 'Anglo-American' pattern.
Francisco Flores
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by Simon Wintle
Playing cards in this style have been discovered in various parts of the world, suggesting that they were exported or carried there by early explorers or merchants.
Phelippe Ayet, c.1574
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by Simon Wintle
Archaic, late medieval Spanish-suited playing cards printed by Phelippe Ayet, c.1574.
Phelippe Ayet, 1574
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by Simon Wintle
49 assorted cards were found hidden in the lintel of a doorway, in an old building in Toledo, during demolition, and are now preserved in the the Museo de Santa Cruz de Toledo.
Baraja Morisca
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by Simon Wintle
Primitive Latin suited pack, possibly of Swiss or German origin for export to Spain, dated by paper analysis as early XV century, which makes this one of the earliest known surviving packs of playing cards.
Spanish National Pattern
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by Simon Wintle
Probably originating in Spain in the seventeenth century or even earlier, this pattern became strongly established by the Catalan cardmakers Rotxotxo of Barcelona.
Antique Swiss Playing Cards, c.1530
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by Simon Wintle
The Swiss national suit system of shields, acorns, hawkbells and flowers originated sometime during the fifteenth century.
XV Century Italian Playing Cards
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by Simon Wintle
Cards from a pack of an early form of north Italian playing cards, with the swords back-to-back and curved outwards. Believed to be Venetian, dated 1462.
Re-creation of Pierre Marechal playing-cards
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by Simon Wintle
English printers used Rouen court cards as inspiration for their own cruder, more stylized decks. The style of the costumes on English playing cards is late medieval, being descended from the Rouen models.
