The "Portuguese suit system," also referred to as the "Italo-Portuguese system," was once widely used in Portugal, Sicily, Malta, and other regions connected to Portuguese colonization and trade. However, this system is now largely outdated. It is worth noting that the boundaries and simultaneous diffusion of the different variations within these regions and Europe as a whole are not clearly defined. Moreover, this system had an impact on Far Eastern countries, including Japan. Additionally, remnants of the Portuguese suit system can still be found in early Spanish and Italian playing cards, specifically in Minchiate packs, while it continues to be preserved in the Sicilian tarot to this day.

Malta was ruled by the Order of Saint John as a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1530 to 1798. A thriving playing-card manufacturing industry had flourished there since 1684. The example of cards with dragon aces shown here is believed to have been made by a Spanish cardmaker, A.Infirrera, whose name is on the four of cups, whilst the date 1693 appears on the two of coins. The kings have Maltese crosses on their chests and the four of coins has arms said to be those of the Grand Master of Malta of that time.

The cards have a centrally-placed index at top and bottom, placed within a rectangle, and there is also an inner rectangle in the design of each card. The index letters refer to the card rank and suit names in Italian (rather than Portuguese). The kings are seated and hold shields. The maids also hold shields and those of swords and batons are battling with serpent-like creatures, similar to those depicted on the aces.

Above: Portuguese-suited cards by Andrea Infirrera with the arms of Malta, 1693. Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France • Jeu de cartes maltais aux dragons de type portugais►

Further References

Denning, Trevor: “What Are Infirrera Cards?” in The Playing-Card, Journal of the IPCS, Vol. 16 number 3.

Salvatore Bonaccorsi, Nicola De Giorgio, Emilia Maggio: The origins of the "Portuguese" suit system for playing cards and tarots in Sicily Section II►

Giovanni Bonello: “Maltese Playing Card Makers 1684-1750” in The Playing-Card, Volume 32, Number 3, IPCS 2005.