‘El Cid’ by Simeon Durá, Valencia, Spain

‘El Cid’ playing Cards manufactured by Simeon Durá, Valencia, Spain, 1880-1940

Above: ‘El Cid’ Catalan pattern manufactured by Simeon Durá, Valencia, Spain, c.1880. Guillem de Castro address on 4 of coins. The reverse has an orange ‘weave’ pattern.

A more primitive version of this pack can be seen on the British Museum website.

Above: cards from the example of ‘El Cid’ brand preserved in the British Museum, described as: 48 playing-cards, hand-coloured woodcut, backs marbled in black. Late 19th Century. The wrapper is inscribed “Fabrica de Naipes Simeon Durá, Guillem de Castro 130, Valencia, numero 1.” © The Trustees of the British Museum number 1896,0501.835►

Later editions of the ‘El Cid’ brand (shown below) imitated the Castilian pattern which had recently been introduced by Heracio Fournier.

Above: three more different editions of Simeon Durá's standard ‘El Cid’ Spanish suited playing cards. These packs were produced in a wide choice of editions, with different numbers of cards and from luxury to basic quality. The example in the bottom row is a special version for the game of Bézique. The designs are based on an earlier 'fantasy' edition designed by E. Pastor in c.1875.