La Compagnie de 1602
Characters from the annual festival held to commemorate the failed attempt to storm Geneva in 1602.
La Compagnie de 1602 is a historical society with around 2,200 members which organises the festival held in December each year to commemorate L’Escalade (the act of scaling defensive walls), the failed attempt to conquer the Protestant city-state of Geneva by the Catholic Duchy of Savoy on the night of 11-12 December 1602, the darkest night of the year. The comic-looking court cards and Jokers depict characters in historical costume connected with the festival. On the Jokers one can read “BENE 91”, presumably the artist’s name and the year. On the back is a vivid night-time scene of a raider being eyed by a defender.


Above: ‘La Compagnie de 1602’ commemorative deck printed by AGMüller, Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland, for La Compagnie de 1602, Geneva, 1991. 52 cards + 3 Jokers. No box. Size: 57 x 88.5 mm.

By Roddy Somerville
Member since May 31, 2022
Roddy started collecting stamps on his 8th birthday. In 1977 he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the IPCS, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards. He lives near Toulouse in France.
Related Articles

2011 Worshipful Company Pack
Celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens, with characters adapted from drawings b...

Jeu Numismatique
European coins of all periods replace the traditional courts and pips.

Carte di Colombo
Fully illustrated pack designed by Pier Canosa commemorating the 500th anniversary of the discovery ...

The Tarot of Meditation – Yeager Tarot
Marty Yeager’s original Tarot of Meditation from 1975, republished later by U.S. Games Systems, Inc....

Seminole Wars deck
Seminole Wars deck by J. Y. Humphreys, Philadelphia, c.1819.

Verkeers Kwartet
A helpful quartet game celebrating the 75th anniversary of road safety exams making traffic safer.

Modern Jass (Fredy Sigg)
Caricatural updating of traditional Swiss Jass cards by the artist Fredy Sigg.

Swiss playing cards by Iehan Hemau
17th century Swiss-suited playing cards by Iehan Hemau of Épinal.

La Baraja del Mundial
“La Baraja del Mundial” satirical football deck published by Fournier for ‘Interviú’ news magazine. ...

Gibson’s History of England
History without tears for young and old, 1920s.

Historical Characters
Double-ended deck with historical characters and jacks as jesters by Daveluy, c.1850.

Grunwald 1410 – The Battle of Tannenberg
Details from the famous painting of the Battle of Grunwald (1410) by the Polish painter Jan Matejko....

Piatnik’s 200th Anniversary
A special philatelic souvenir for Piatnik’s 200th anniversary, combining playing cards an...

Deportivo Alavés 1921-2021
Drawings by Guillem Bosch of famous Alavés footballers in celebration of the club’s centenary.

English cards from the reign of Charles II
This article explores a historic pack of English playing cards from circa 1675, likely used by King ...

Introduction to Collecting Themes
Playing cards can be broadly categorised into standard and non-standard designs, with collectors app...
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days