Trappola cards from Poland

Trappola, described by Cardano in his Liber de Ludo Aleae (1564), was a popular Venetian trick-taking game, although its popularity declined by the end of the century and spread elsewhere, carrying the Italian cards across Central Europe and leaving a deep imprint on gaming culture. It is notable for being one of the earliest known games where the ace ranks higher than the king, and it uses a specialised deck of cards which introduces a strategic depth to play.

The deck typically consists of 36 cards with Italian suits: swords, batons, cups, and coins. The court cards include the king, cavalier and foot soldier. In Trappola the threes, fours, fives and sixes are removed leaving a pack of 36 cards: A K C J 10 9 8 7 2 in each suit. This rather unusual composition, with certain cards omitted, suggests that it derived from an even earlier Italian pack (tarocco, trionfi, tarot). A closer look at the designs confirms this, although the example shown here is a relatively later version of the pattern.

This particular pack was produced in Poland, quite far from Italy! The ace of coins has two Polish inscriptions: “Fabrika Kart Kraiowa” (National Card Factory) and “J. G. Du Port Warsawie”. The ace of clubs bears two duty stamps, one Russian, the other Polish

Above: Trappola cards published in Warsaw by J G Du Port, 18th century. 36 cards, hand-coloured woodcuts, backs printed with a pattern of black stars. © The Trustees of the British Museum • number 1896,0501.810.+►

The linguistic and cultural impact of Trappola is interesting and underscores the game’s historical significance. The name is Italian, the word meaning literally ‘a trick’, although corrupted in some German-speaking provinces into variations such as Trappolier, Trappulier or even Traplaczka in Poland. In Czechoslovakia they were known as Spady cards (Mann 1966, p.97) as well as various other names. Throughout the 17th to 19th centuries the game of Trappola spread via trade routes, military movements and cultural exchanges over a wide area stretching from Nürnberg and Leipzig, through Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) to Graz, Budapest, Wroclaw and Warsaw.

Further References

Dominic Winter Actioneers: Lot 491 Silesian Trappola, Franz Buchhold, Wratislaviae (Wroclaw), 1784►

IPCS: pattern sheet 40 Early Trappola►

Mann, Sylvia: Collecting Playing Cards, Arco Publications, 1966

Wikipedia: Trappola►

Above: detail from The Card Players II playing the Italian game of trappola, by the 17th-century Dutch artist Almanach in the collection of the National Gallery of Slovenia in Ljubljana.