Troubadour
Charming deck evoking the art of the Middle Ages.
Catel & Farcy’s wonderful “original designs, inspired by the age when light shone through the earliest stained-glass windows, were produced in the age of electronics for the Mazda Lamp Company and presented to its friends,” according to the extra card. The courts echo the simplified forms and spiritual luminosity of Gothic glass, reinterpreted through a modern lens, and I love how expressive the faces are in this deck. The result is a beautiful and original deck, successfully fusing medieval inspiration and twentieth-century design, illuminated not by cathedral windows, but by electric light.
Troubadour playing cards produced by Catel & Farcy, France, 1970. Designer unknown.
By Lev Golinkin
United States • Member since May 26, 2026
I'm a US-based author and journalist. I've been collecting playing cards since I was about 8 years old, when I got mesmerized by the various decks that were used in Soviet Ukraine, where I'm from. I collect mainly European decks such as those by Dondorf, Grimaud, and Piatnik. I love courts above all else, and am drawn toward historical and artistic decks.
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