Playing Cards designed by Apeles Mestres, c.1905

Apeles Mestres was a Catalan painter-illustrator who worked from the end of the XIX century into the early XX century. His designs for a pack of playing cards were originally produced by Dondorf of Frankfurt in around 1902. The version shown on this page, published by Costa y Valerio in around 1905, was printed in outlines only, and has been partly hand-coloured with watercolours.

The influence on Portuguese card-making of Frankfurt cardmakers can also be seen in the German-style cards made by Litografia Uniao Ltd in c.1960.

Images courtesy of José Manuel Murcia.