Paris pattern variant from Lyon, c1900
Updated courts retaining elements of a standard French pack by C. Gerentes, Lyon.
Is it reasonable to call this a Paris pattern variant? On balance, yes, given that most of the court cards retain their traditional attributes (a harp on the KS, 2 Queens hold flowers, Jacks with hands on hips, etc.). On the other hand, the faces have been brought up to date and the headgear made more fashionable (not to say exotic and flamboyant!). The cards with obvious differences are the JC, the QD (who has lost her flower), and the JD (who has gained a falcon). The traditional names on the court cards are lacking and there is no wreath or stamp on the AC. However, the maker’s name does appear on every court card. At one end of the 9H, the numeral has been printed the wrong way up.
Little is known about the maker, C. Gerentes. He (or she) does not appear in D’Allemagne’s great work of 1906. According to Thierry Depaulis, there are cards in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris by this maker, who styled himself "successeur de Desvignes". Also, in 1899-1900, Gerentes was found guilty of imitating wrappers made for Spanish cards by B.P. Grimaud.
Above: Paris pattern variant made by C. Gerentes, Lyon, France, c1900. 32 cards. Size: 56.5 x 86.5 mm. Purchased in Lyon, 2016.
By Roddy Somerville
France • Member since May 31, 2022
Roddy started collecting stamps on his 8th birthday. In 1977 he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the IPCS, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards. He lives near Toulouse in France.
Activity for Paris pattern variant from Lyon, c1900
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