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Sicilian playing cards by Antonio Monasta

Published July 03, 1996 Updated July 29, 2023

"Il Leon" Sicilian playing cards, 40-card pack based on Spanish designs, made in Sicily by Antonio Monasta, probably 17th century.

Italy Monasta History Sicilian

"Il Leon" Sicilian playing cards, 40-card pack based on Spanish designs, made in Sicily by Antonio Monasta, probably 17th century. When the Spaniards occupied Sicily, licenses were given to local card makers to manufacture cards, hence the inscription on the two of swords reads "Con licenza del Rey N.S." The colouring is predominantly orange, green and yellow and rather crudely applied as though with the finger tips. The back papers turn over the front edges of the cards, a feature found in Italian cards but not Spanish ones. This pattern was replaced by the modern Sicilian type.

Further References

Salvatore Bonaccorsi, Nicola De Giorgio, Emilia Maggio: The origins of the “Portuguese” suit system for playing cards and tarots in Sicily

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By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.

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