medieval
Gambling and Vice in the Middle Ages
Gambling and Vice in the Hours of Charles V: card-playing in the local tavern

Jeu “Gerente”
Jeu “Gerente” - published by Moncar in 1983 in the “Cartes de Fantasie” series.

Middle Ages
Middle Ages by Germano & Cª, (Litografia Maia),

Romance Español
“Romance Español” designed by Carlos Sáenz de Tejada and published by Heraclio Fournier in various editions since 1951.

Europe
“Europe” designed by Teodoro N. Miciano and printed by Heraclio Fournier in 1962, portraying XIV century European fashions.

Master of the Playing Cards
Animal suited playing cards engraved by the Master of the Playing Cards, Germany, c.1455

La Baraja
Anonymous “La Baraja” Spanish deck, c.2005.

Hidden meanings in painting by Jheronimus Bosch
Medieval View of Gambling in the ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ by Jheronimus Bosch

Stuttgart pack, c.1430
The luxury, hand-painted Stuttgart Cards (Stuttgarter Kartenspiel) dated c.1430, with suits of ducks, falcons, stags and hounds.

Jeu de Bataille
“Jeu de Bataille” card game published by Éditions Willeb, Paris. The court cards represent characters from different nationalities or ethnic groups who are presumably engaged in battle

Flemish Hunting Deck
Set of medieval playing cards with King, Queen, Knave and numeral cards from one to ten in each of four suits which refer to the activity of hunting, as practiced by the nobility.

Four Centuries
“Four Centuries” playing cards by Esselte Öbergs with court cards depicted as caricatures from different historical periods.

British Museum Playing Cards
Unique pack of playing cards created for the British Museum with illustrations by Frances Button.

Hans Sebald Beham
Playing cards designed by Hans Sebald Beham (1500–1550).

Battle of Grunwald
Medieval style playing cards commemorating the Battle of Grunwald (1410), designed and published by Studio Wena, 2011

Daveluy
Daveluy produced card games between c.1840 and 1890. Many of his playing cards have historical connotations and show figures with a landscape background.

Première Croisade
‘Première Croisade’ with single-ended courts by Daveluy, Bruges, c.1850.

Moyen-Age by Daveluy
Cartes Moyen-Age by Daveluy, Bruges, c.1875.

Jeu Moyen Age
Quénioux believed that aesthetic feelings are the highest values: “C’est précisément cet amour de l’artisan pour le travail qu’il accomplit, la satisfaction intime qu’il en éprouve, qui ont donné naissance à tous les arts et qui ont fait dire que l’art est la joie dans le travail”.

Baraja Edad Media
Baraja Edad Media, fantasy Spanish-suited medieval playing cards published Mas-Reynals, Barcelona, 1993. Designed by M. Malé and illustrated by V. Maza.

Master of the Banderoles
Playing Cards by the Master of the Banderoles, one of the earliest professional printmakers, c.1470.

Master PW Circular Cards
Master PW Circular Playing Cards: roses, columbines, carnations, parrots and hares... everyday objects evoking life and fertility.

The History of Playing Cards
Playing Cards have been around in Europe since the 1370s. Some early packs were hand painted works of art which were expensive and affordable only by the wealthy. But as demand increased cheaper methods of production were discovered so that playing cards became available for everyone...

Phelippe Ayet, c.1574
Archaic, late medieval Spanish-suited playing cards printed by Phelippe Ayet, c.1574.

Hunting Depicted on Playing Cards
In the Middle Ages hunting was an integral part of life.

Hofamterspiel, c.1460
Hofamterspiel, c.1460

The Princely Hunting pack, c.1440
The Princely Hunting Pack, c.1440/45, is attributed to Konrad Witz and his workshop in Basle.

Early German Engraved Playing-cards
During the second half of the fifteenth century, with printing technology commercially established and playing cards already a mass-produced commodity, a succession of masterly German engravers practised their art and decorative playing cards reached a zenith.
