Commoners playing cards

This is another pack by Cumbrian artist and designer Ian Cumpstey. The style and appearance of these cards are based on traditional German-suited playing cards, with international standard indices and pips added in the four corners for ease of use.

In the German tradition of playing cards, the pips in the suits of suits of leaves and acorns grow from a central stem. For these Commoners cards, the spades and clubs suits are drawn in this way. The hearts and diamonds suits are arranged in the manner typical of the German hearts and bells suits. All the pip cards have an individual illustration - like a fox, a rooster, a cuckoo, clouds, a mountain, and so on, which might be thought of as representing universal ideas. Much of the artwork is inspired by the local landscape, fauna and surroundings in Cumbria in the north of England.

In relation to the courts, Cumpstey has followed the German convention of pip placement for the Ober and Unter, but with male and female jacks and queens. None of the court cards in this set are obviously royal figures. Instead, they are commoners in the sense that they are using --- in one way or another --- the common land in the countryside. Such a rural rustic feel is actually typical of many German playing cards. There are two jokers and two extra information cards. See the box►

Above: Commoners playing cards created by Ian Cumpstey, printed by Cartamundi, 2020.

Reference

Much of the above description is taken from the original Kickstarter campaign website►