Calaveras De Azúcar
Calaveras De Azúcar playing cards produced by Natalia Silva, USA, 2017.
At first sight Calaveras De Azúcar is not dissimilar to Russian folk art – both packs having been produced by Natalia Silva and printed by the USPCC. Both feature colourful images against a black background, with the traditional black suits coloured yellow. But this pack is inspired by the Day of the Dead Celebration – a Mexican holiday, celebrated on the 1st and 2nd November.
The word “Calavera” means skull in Spanish. “Calavera De Azúcar” is a skull made out of sugar, which is used to decorate Day of the Dead altars. These sugar skulls are happy, colourful and whimsical, rather than scary. The reason for this is because they are meant to capture the joy and spirit of their deceased loved ones.
The court cards depict the skulls with musical instruments, hats and flowers, with particular symbolism in the decoration around the eyes - flowers symbolizing life, and cobwebs symbolizing death. The skulls are designed to be bright and cheerful, being a celebration of the life that once was. The Jokers take a similar approach, although with a character all their own. Amazing skull designs are depicted on the card backs and on the case ►
Above: Calaveras De Azúcar playing cards produced by Natalia Silva, USA, 2017.
The pack was produced in different coloured editions. Black and Blue packs in 1500 copies (Black is shown here), Purple in 500 copies, Green in 100 copies and Red in a mere 13 copies.
By Peter Burnett
United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022 • Contact
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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