Souvenir playing cards

This pack of 54 cards features the drawings and sketches of late 18th century Riga by Johann Christoph Brotze, who was born in Görlitz, Electorate of Saxony, in 1742. He went to Riga in 1768 and spent the next 46 years as a teacher at the Riga Imperial Lyceum. He died in 1823.

During his time in Riga he collected historical data and depicted in drawings and paintings everything he saw around him in his everyday life, as well as most buildings and monuments of significance. They include views of Baltic estates, castles, towns and settlements, public edifices, dwelling houses, churches as well as topographic maps of separate places, inhabitants of towns and countryside. Many of his drawings depicted people of different ethnic groups, who had settled in Riga in the 1770’s – 1790’s, and in particular their dress.

Above: the box from “Souvenir Playing Cards” featuring drawings and sketches of late 18th century Riga by Johann Christoph Brotze.

This ornate pack was produced by Centrs Alfa, and was designed by Georgijs Krutojs. The court cards and jokers portray individuals in full length. The pip cards are double-ended, with the pips arranged horizontally at the centre and with various countryside, town and village scenes shown above and below.

Above: “Souvenir Playing Cards” featuring drawings and sketches of late 18th century Riga by Johann Christoph Brotze.

Further References

• For more information see here and also Wikipedia►