Bon Gout No.11 with Crimean War aces
Made by Mesmaekers & Moentack of Turnhout.
A pack of playing cards with scenic aces depicting some of the major battles from the Crimean war (1852 - 1856) in which Russia was defeated by an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
The pack has its original wrapper which is named Bon Gout No.11, a luxury pattern printed by Mesmaekers & Moentack of Turnhout Belgium. This factory only existed between 1859 and 1862 after which is became Mesmaekers Frères. The initials of the factory (M&MàT) are just visible on the bottom right hand corner of the wrapper shown below.
Printed in about 1860, this pack consists of 32 cards which are stencil coloured lithography with a different colour scheme at each end of the court cards, an indication of quality.
Below: The wrapper and the back of the cards
All cards shown are from the collection of Paul Symons ©
By Paul Symons
Netherlands • Member since February 01, 2016
I'm British but I have now lived in the Netherlands for more than 50 years and am still enjoying every minute of it. I started collecting playing cards in the early 1980’s after speaking with my neighbour who was at that time a croupier in a casino. I started with just collecting jokers, but that soon led me to complete packs of cards and eventually to specialising in old and antique playing cards, particularly those of C.L. Wüst of Frankfurt, Germany. I am presently the Dutch representative of the I.P.C.S. and the auctioneer at the IPCS conventions.
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