The Art & Design of Playing Cards
The playing card calls for artistic treatment and although the constrained size imposes some limitations there is an almost bewildering wealth and variety of designs in playing cards and their tuck boxes. The serious player requires design to be unobtrusive so that aesthetic considerations remain in the background. However, with modern manufacturing technology more eye-catching designs are becoming popular as gifts, collectibles and for their attractive appearance.
Kalevala
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by Simon Wintle
Kalevala playing cards by Sunish Chabba and Ishan Trivedi inspired by ancient Finnish mythology.
Karl Gerich
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by Simon Wintle
Karl Gerich's interest in playing-card production came to the fore while studying at Bath Academy of Art from 1975. Karl produced a unique range of hand-made playing cards during the period 1980-1998.
Karl Gerich No.1
The first entry in the catalogue, dating from c.1982, shows full-length figures with their symbols of office (mace, orb, halberd, sword, flower, etc.) after the early English style.
Karl Gerich No.20: Rouennais A
The Aces are decorated with the pip in a central circle and two different figures at each end of the card. The courts are lavishly illustrated.
Karl Gerich No.22: “Rouennais”
Karl Gerich’s hand-made design No.22: “Rouennais”, Victoria P.C.C, Bath (UK), 1990.
Karl Gerich No.27
The courts are characters from Wagner's opera “The Ring of the Nibelungs”, beautifully etched and hand coloured. Each character is named in a cursive script along each side of the card.
Karl Gerich No.29
“Victoria Playing Cards” designed by Georgina Harvey and produced by Karl Gerich, Bath (UK), 1988. Printed from copperplate etching; hand-coloured.
Karl Gerich No.31: Triton
“Triton”, KG31, was published by Karl Gerich in 1989 trading as Victoria Playing Card Co with double-ended courts based on the XP17 or “Bongoût” pattern of Van Genechen and other Turnhout makers.
Karl Gerich No.33: Views of Bath
Views of Bath is Georgina Harvey's third design, created in 1990. The cards feature beautifully designed double-ended courts and double-ended Aces with a central band which is used to identify different views of the City of Bath at each end.
Karl Korab
Karl Korab was born in 1937 in Falkenstein (Lower Austria), the son of a forester. As a child he experienced the horrors of World War II, which influence his artwork today.
Karlis Padegs
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by Simon Wintle
Karlis Padegs (1911-1940) was a Latvian artist who designed 17 playing cards in 1936 - joker, aces, kings, queens and jacks.
Kitten Club
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by Simon Wintle
From Empresses to King Cats and One-Eyed Jacks, every game is a pageant of unforgettable cats, each with a story to tell...
Knoll International
Geometric designs by the French artist Jean Garçon for Knoll International, the furniture company.
Krienser Fasnachts-Jass 1988
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by Simon Wintle
The Krienser Fasnachts-Jass deck was designed and published by Léon Schnyder from Kriens for the 1988 Fasnacht Carnival
L. P. Holmblad, c.1845
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by Simon Wintle
Holmblad ordered his earlier designs to be re-drawn and updated. Comparison of packs from this era show instances where one figure is replaced by another more imposing version.
Lawrence & Cohen, New York
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by Simon Wintle
Lawrence & Cohen decided to hire Owen Jones, the English playing card designer who produced back designs for De La Rue (London).