Relief of Vienna
“Relief of Vienna” tri-centenary pack, 1983
“Relief of Vienna” tri-centenary pack
“Relief of Vienna” playing cards issued on the occasion of the three hundredth anniversary of the raising of the siege of that city, by Polish forces, from the invading Ottoman forces in 1683. The colour scheme for each suit reflects the leading personalities of the powers at conflict. Each Ace has the official emblem of the state concerned: spades = Turkey; diamonds = Austria; clubs = France; hearts = Poland. The design was by Maria Orowska-Gabry, with historical advice from Prof. Stanislaw Nahlik. Manufactured by KZWP, Cracow.
These two authors also designed the "Jagiellons" cards based on the historical paintings of Jan Matejko. See: explanatory leaflet by Prof. Stanislaw Nahlik→
Above: Relief of Vienna tri-centenary pack published by KZWP, Crakow, 1983.
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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