Nationale-Nederlanden
Playing cards produced for Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company, 1984.
Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company, 1984. The court cards are richly detailed, and the four aces are especially exuberant celebrations of nature.
Note
This pack was also issued with English indices. The quality of board used is superior to that of the issue with Dutch indices and the cards have a linen finish. The main back colour is blue with a white border.
There is no doubt more that could be said about these cards, especially the fact that Henry VIII and François 1er are two of the Kings. The other courts are probably identifiable as well but I haven't spent any time trying to work out who's who - RS.
By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)
Member since January 30, 2009
Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.
His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.
Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.
Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.
His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.
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