Les Grands Navigateurs
Jean Delpech's modernist voyage through the history of Maritime Exploration.
Oceans, seas, and the men who conquered them are the subject of this extraordinary pack with artwork by the French artist Jean Delpech (1916-1988). This is one of my favourite decks – the bright colours and stylized illustrations are just delightful. Jean Delpech's artwork is neither purely traditional nor wholly avant-garde; rather, it reinterprets the French court-card pattern through the lens of 1960s–70s aesthetics. The aces depict Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Sir Francis Drake, and French explorer Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse. The kings and queens are personifications of seas and oceans, and incorporate nautical allegories such as compasses, sails, sea creatures, maps and navigational instruments into their bodies and costumes.
Delpech didn’t forget the common man – the jacks celebrate the captains, corsairs, fishermen, and boaters who ply the briny. A pair of mermen serve as jokers while the box features a compass rose. A French-language brochure comes with the deck.
Les Grands Navigateurs maritime playing cards illustrated by Jean Delpech and printed by J.M Simon, Nancy, France, 1976.
Delpech designed a similar, much rarer deck called Jeu de Cartes Chasseur des Mines Tripartite ►
• Website of Jean Delpech ►
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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