Jeu de Cartes Napoléon

“Jeu de Cartes Napoléon” created by Matéja celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Napoleon (1769-1969). The cards have French indices and are double-ended. See the Information cards►

Napoleon is almost universally depicted as a short man while the truth is that he was probably slightly above average height for the period, only his generals and marshals were taller. According to a contemporary observer, Napoleon possessed a magnetic personality and a fascinating smile... but, when excited by any violent passion his face took on a stern and even terrible expression. His eyes were reported to be grey or blue, penetrating and wonderfully mobile.

Above: cards from a dual deck created by Matéja celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Napoleon, manufactured by B.P Grimaud, 1969. Each ace carries a medal of a French order of honour, while the court cards depict important leaders from the time of Napoleon. Green or maroon backs.

English Indices Version

Above: English (International) indexed version of these cards. Packaged as a single pack, rather than a dual set, the courts have English indices and the jokers lack the maker's name. All images courtesy Matt Probert.

By Matt Probert

Member since March 02, 2012

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I have adored playing cards since before I was seven years old, and was brought up on packs of Waddington's No 1. As a child I was fascinated by the pictures of the court cards.

Over the next fifty years I was seduced by the artwork in Piatnik's packs and became a collector of playing cards.

Seeking more information about various unidentified packs I discovered the World of Playing Cards website and became an enthusiastic contributor researching and documenting different packs of cards.

I describe my self as a playing card archaeologist, using detective work to identify and date obscure packs of cards discovered in old houses, flea markets and car boot sales.