Neptune No.105 Playing Cards
An exotic pack made by A.Van Genechten of Turnhout
This unusual and exotic pack of playing cards was printed by Antoine Van Genechten of Turnhout, Belgium in 1893. It is named Neptune No.105 which seems rather inappropriate for a pack depicting stylised views of what may be India on the aces although some of the views possibly represent other Asian countries. The court cards, especially the queens and jacks, are exotically dressed and presumably represent certain continents although it is not clear to me which ones. The kings look European as do the queens, except the queen of clubs. The jack of spades looks Grecian and the other other jacks vaguely Turkish. All quite confusing !
However, it is a colourful and attractive pack of cards of which Van Genechten must have been immensely proud and protective because the name of the factory is found on all the aces and court cards, something which is unusual for a Turnhout factory. They also took the trouble to register the design and printed 'Déposé' on all the court cards to make this clear.
The pack has 52 high quality cards with gold edges and no indices. The box depicts Neptune and a large sailing vessel on the front.
Below: the back, a pip card and the back and front of the box.
References: Turnhoutse Speelkaarten 1983, No.143.
Belgische Speelkaarten, Biebouw 2014, VG48 p.263
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.
Activity for Neptune No.105 Playing Cards
Sign in to comment or save this article.
Related Articles
Cartamundi
Cartamundi is a Belgian playing-card manufacturer formed in 1970 through the consolidation of severa...
Jeu Quatre Empereurs
Brazilian scenic aces with emperors of Brazil, Austria and France and other dignitaries on the court...
Dutch costume playing cards
Dutch costume playing cards made for the Dutch market in the second half of the 19th century.
Bayer
Humorous pharmaceutical deck made by Antoine van Genechten for Bayer, c.1963.
Banque Nationale de Paris, c.1962
Special deck made for La Banque Nationale de Paris by Van Genechten, Turnhout, c.1962.
Genever Giraf
Dutch pattern advertising deck for Genever Giraf made by Van Genechten in the 1950s.
Millennium
‘Millennium’ limited edition playing cards by Carta Mundi, 1999
Manuf’d for L.N. Mann
Standard English pattern manuf’d for L.N. Mann by Van Genechten, c.1890.
Tobacco advertising
Advertising decks made in Belgium by A. Van Genechten, 1960s.
Sport No.31
Van Genechten first registered an Ace of Spades for English playing cards in 1885 followed by the ‘S...
22: Belgian Makers: Van Genechten
Van Genechten started making playing cards in c.1840 and continued until the founding of Carta Mundi...
Dilkhus playing cards for India
Van Genechten was one of the most competent cardmakers in Turnhout and they produced almost every ki...
18: Belgian Cards: An Introduction
The card-makers of Turnhout were prolific in their output and inveterate copiers.
Van Genechten
A. Van Genechten ran a flourishing business, supplying various kinds of cards both inside the countr...
Standard Genoese
Van Genechten manufactured playing cards in various styles, including specially customised versions ...
Bongoût
One of the outstanding and most popular packs made by the Turnhout cardmakers was the Bongoût type. ...
Genoese pattern
The design is purely 'Parisian' but the colouring is green, red, yellow and black. Belgium has taken...
Naypes Finos made in Belgium
Belgian manufacturers were competing against Spanish makers. Features of the traditional Spanish des...
Escalada y Vidiella, Montevideo c.1860
Cards from a 40-card pack made in Belgium by Antoine van Genechten exclusively for the firm "Escalad...
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 60 days
