Burgundy pattern - portrait bourguignon

The old (now obsolete) Burgundy pattern originated with late XV century Lyon cardmakers for export to Burgundy, Flanders and Lorraine, and was adapted by cardmakers in those areas. Sometimes the suit signs changed, or the images were turned to face the other way due to the process of copying. In this fine example the woodcutting is intricate and the court cards have been coloured in strong shades of yellow, terracotta, two tones of blue and black, and they are also unnamed.

The jack of clubs wears a helmet with a long plume, and the maker’s name and address appears by his feet. The queen of diamonds, looking leftwards without a flower, has rather square sleeves tipped with ermine and the words «mais bien vous» down one side. Each of the four jacks has an escutcheon or heraldic shield somewhere in the design. On closer inspection several cards can be seen to have been badly cut in the workshop, perhaps because of mis-aligned cutting apparatus or an inattentive worker.

Above: portrait bourguignon by Nicolas Chenevet (Dijon), betwwen 1728-1745. 32 card piquet deck. Stencil coloured woodcuts. Source gallica.bnf.fr • portrait bourguignon by Nicolas Chenevet (Dijon)►

The four kings wear ermine-trimmed robes and large crowns topped with fleurs-de-lys; the king of hearts has a medallion. Three of the queens hold flowers and wear ample, embroidered robes; the queen of diamonds has rather rectangular shoulder pads. The jack (valet) of hearts stands facing forwards. The valet of clubs usually holds a shield displaying the cardmaker's emblem. The valet of spades names the place of manufacture.

References

d'Allemagne, Henry-René : Les cartes à jouer du XIVe au XXe siècle, Hachette et Cie, Paris, 1906. vol 1, p.112 ff.

Paul Bostock's blog: Card Design: French playing cards►

Ken Lodge's blog: French regional patterns: the kings • the queens and jacks►