Burraco

Number of decks: 2
Number of cards in the deck: 52and 2 jokers
Number of players:4 (two for two)
Card seniority:3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, V, D, K, T, 2.
Purpose of the game: first score 2000 or more points together with your partner.
Rules of the game. An Italian card game played between four players paired with two full decks of cards and four jokers. Card cost in points:

joker - 30 points;

2 - 20 points;

ace - 15 points;

king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8 - each 10 points;

7, 6, 5, 4, 3 - each 5 points.

The first dealer is determined by the low card. The deck is carefully shuffled by any player, and each player pulls out one card, the one who pulls out the lowest card becomes the dealer. The seniority of the cards is from three to two, as indicated above. If several players draw the same cards, they draw one card one more time. After identifying the dealer, he carefully shuffles the deck, removes the top of the deck in the amount of one third, then the dealer takes the remaining two thirds and, one at a time, clockwise, starting with the player to the left of the dealer, deals 11 cards to each player. Then 11 cards are placed in the center of the table in two closed piles ( pozzetti) and the remaining deck is placed open next to it.

The goal of the game is to form sets of identical cards or sequences of consecutive cards of the same suit. Each set or sequence must contain at least three cards.

Kit.Consists of three or more cards of the same value: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, B, D, K, T. It is allowed to use one deuce or joker in a set. For example, a set of four cards:♠ 4- ♠ 4- ♣ 4- 2 or ♣10-♠10-♦ 10-Joker.

Subsequence. Consists of three or more consecutive cards of the same suit, the order of the cards can be (T)-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-B-D-K-(T). It is allowed to use one deuce or joker in a sequence. When making a sequence, the Ace must be on only one side of the sequence, either from the beginning of the sequence before the deuce, or at the end of the sequence after the king. Sequence example:7- 8- 9- ♠T- ♠2- ♠3-2- ♠5- ♣9- ♣2- ♣B-Joker-♦ 5- ♦ 6.

A pure set or sequence of cards is called Pulito, and dirty Sporco. A sequence of seven or more cards is called Burraco. Pure Burraco earns extra points for the team.

First move in r The player to the left of the dealer begins playing cards. Any player's actions consist of two actions: drawing a card and discarding another card from his hands.

In this case, the player on his turn can:

add cards to existing melds if they are this player's melds;

reset or open a combination at any time. Each player has his own discard box;

Each round must be completed by discarding cards into the discard pile.

2 stacks (pozzetti) serve for the following:

as a reserve pile, if the main pile runs out, then any of these piles will be used for the game, if these piles are no longer there, then the game will be considered over;

to replenish a player's cards, when a player runs out of cards and one of these piles exists, it will be added to the player's hand (before or after discarding). It's worth noting that one stack of 11 cards is for one team, and the other stack is for the other team. That is, each team can use one stack only once.

The round can end in one of three ways:

1. Closing.

The team took their stack of cards pozzetti;

The team compiled Burraco;

Players on the same team combine all but one card from their hands and discard that last card that cannot be placed anywhere.

2. There are two cards left in the deck. When a player draws the third last card from the deck, the round automatically ends at the end of that player's turn.

3. Stalemate situation. If the discard contains only one card and all four players decide to draw the deck and discard another card. Players can simply exchange unwanted cards among themselves and if no one wants, then the situation reaches a dead end.

After the end of the round, players count their points.

Winner- counts points for card combinations, for bonuses/fine.

Loser- counts points for card combinations minus points for cards remaining in hand, plus bonus/fine.

There are 3 types of positive bonuses.

Burraco Pulito (pure) - 200 bonus points.

Burraco Sporco (dirty) - 100 bonus points.

When leaving the game - 100 bonus points.

The team that didn't accept Pozzetti - fine minus 100 points.

The first team of players to score 2000 points or more wins the game.

Finally, I decided to briefly tell the history of playing cards in Europe. There are a lot of materials and examples, so the most difficult thing is to stop in time and not overload you with unnecessary details that are of interest only to specialists. If someone doesn’t understand some points or wants to know about something in more detail, then don’t hesitate to ask. I warn you right away that although the history of playing and fortune-telling cards often overlapped, I will not talk in detail about tarot cards, I will only mention some of the existing connections.

History of playing cards in Europe.
The history of maps in Europe is quite complex and confusing. It is not known exactly when exactly the first decks appeared there; most likely they have not survived. At the end of the 14th century, references to maps and their production appeared in various documents. Judging by the appearance of the maps, which I will discuss in more detail below, there was no single way of their penetration into European states; most likely, there were several different sources independent of each other. Probably, in different ways, maps came to certain regions of Europe from the countries of the East, and then underwent changes in accordance with the culture of a particular area. Initially, there was no single type of card even in one region, there were a huge number of variations in the number of cards in the deck, types of suits and the like. Only after a long time were they able to come to some common denominator, and three main types of decks were formed, differing in the designation of suits, which still exist today. Each type of card is common in a specific geographic region. Accordingly, these are Italian-Spanish, German (with a Swiss variety), French-English types of decks. Let's take a closer look at each of these types.

1. Spain and Italy.
Some of the first known maps that have survived to this day appeared in this region. Judging by their appearance, the maps were borrowed from the Arabs, which is not surprising, given the connection of this region with the countries of the East and the Muslim influence on Spanish culture. In Spain, the cards were called naibes or naipes. This name comes from the Arabic name for cards. The decks had four suits that are familiar to those who work with tarot cards: coins, cups, swords and wands. Unlike the Mamluk maps, the Spaniards began to draw images of people on their court maps. In addition, dozens disappeared from the deck - there were 48 cards left in it. 10 is the Jack (la sota), 11 is the knight (el caballo), 12 is the king (el rey). Later, for some games, decks with 40 cards appeared (they lack 9 and 8); decks with such a number of cards are characteristic of Spain. Examples of such decks.

Classic Spanish deck with 40 cards: numbered from 1 to 7, two knights and a king. The king is always depicted standing.

Fournier Spanish Cards

Another deck from this factory

Simeon Durá, Valencia, Spain, c.1875

Similar maps appeared in Italy. They had a name similar to the Spanish one naibi (naibbe, nahipi), in the 15th century the name Saracen cards is also found.

Cards with Bergamo pattern. Modern Italian deck. The number and composition of cards is similar to Spanish decks.

In northern Italy, based on this deck, a special type of cards arose, which we now know as tarot. 22 trump cards, or triumphs as they were called, were added to the deck. In addition, it was there that for the first time decks began to be encountered in which, among the court cards, in addition to the king and two knights, a queen appeared. Later, the queen in northern Italian gaming decks (and French-English, traditional for us) replaced one of the knights. There are usually no queens in Spanish decks

Tarocco Bolognese

Several cards from the Tarocco Bolognese di G.M. Mitelli published by Il Meneghello (17th century).

Unfortunately, many ancient decks from the 15th and 16th centuries have survived to this day in an incomplete version; often less than half of the deck is known, so it is not always possible to judge how many cards were in it. Here are some interesting examples of ancient card decks with Spanish-Italian suits. More often the decks were black and white; only very rich people could afford colored decks.

15 cards on an uncut sheet from a book published in 1519.

Several surviving cards from a Catalan deck from 1495.

Several cards from the Phelippe Ayet deck, c.1575

In addition, instead of the suit of coins, pomegranate fruits are depicted here. So the deck is not at all typical for Spain, and contains features of both Italian and German influence.

As for the name tarot or tarocco (tarocco), it appeared only in the 16th century; before that they were called carte da trionfi (cards with triumphs). Originally there was no specific rule for what should be drawn on triumph cards.

They, like the entire deck, did not carry any esoteric meaning; the deck served only for the game.

For example, the only known playing card from an unpreserved deck, on which a ship is depicted, is known. It is generally accepted that it was one of triumphs.

Sola Busca Tarocchi

Until now, similar playing decks designed for playing tarok are used in Italy and some other countries. Moreover, the cards of the major arcana may have nothing to do with the type of cards intended for fortune telling. Here is an example of such decks.

Piedmont Tarot. Deck for the game. (Modern deck)

Fragments of two more modern tarot playing decks

In addition, later we began to see variants of decks for playing tarok with French-English suits, which are more familiar to us.

Examples:

Tarot Francais des Fleurs 78 cards) 1902

Deck by Piatnik Industrie und Gluck Tarock Cards (Klub-Tarock No_ 128)

At the same time, there were Saracen maps, usually smaller in size, and maps with triumphs, larger and better in design, and therefore more expensive.
Decks with Spanish-Italian suit designations without major arcana still exist. In addition to Spain and Italy, they can be found in Latin American countries.

Playing cards engraved in silver from Peru, 1745

By the way, if you watch the series “Boardwalk Empire,” then pay attention that in one of the fragments the Italian gangsters play a deck with Italian-Spanish suits.

Several examples of interesting decks of the Spanish-Italian type.

"Dedication to the Cadiz Constitution of 1812"
Barcelona, ​​1822
Kunstler: Kupferstecher um 1822 aus Barcelona
Langtitel: Kartenspiel zur Erinnerung an die Konstitution von Cadiz
Entstehungsjahr: 1822

Instead of bowls there are cannonballs, and instead of coins there are sheets with the text of the constitution.

Baraja Ibero Americana deck. Made by the Fournier factory for the Spanish-American Exhibition in 1929. Judging by the numbering on the cards, there are no 10 in it. That is, this is an example of a deck of 48 cards.

Italo-Spanish suit patterns can be divided into two types: Spanish and Northern Italian. The Spanish type is characterized by the image of wands in the form of clubs, straight swords or daggers, cups with sharp outlines, and on denarii solar symbolism or a female profile is often depicted. For northern Italians - aristocratic straight staffs, round swords, soft lines of bowls, floral symbolism predominates on denarii.
The Italian-Spanish deck is common in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Its distinctive feature is the use of traditional suit symbols: swords, cups, clubs and coins. Over the course of half a millennium, it has developed two types of patterns, conventionally called Northern Italian (with a distribution zone in Northern Italy) and Spanish (with a distribution zone in Southern Italy and on the islands, Spain, Portugal and Latin America).

Map of the distribution of card types in Italy by region.

It is also interesting to note that in Italy, in some regions, there is still a card game called Cuckoo with a very special deck. Interestingly, a similar game with a similar deck exists in Sweden and Denmark, but is not found in central Europe. How this happened is not very clear. It is possible that this game was once more widely used, but then was forgotten in most countries. Or maybe some traveler brought the game from one region to another, and there it gained unexpected popularity.

To work on this post, I used many materials that are in our

Current page: 10 (book has 15 pages total) [available reading passage: 10 pages]

The museum exhibition in Brussels houses the first known deck of cards with double images. Surprisingly, they are equipped with Italian suit symbols. The King of Wands features a shield with a coat of arms on which is drawn a double-headed eagle and the words "Carte da Giuoco". On the pair of swords we see the inscription: “Fabrica di Gaetano Salvotti in Vicenza sul Corso, 1602.”

Chapter 9
Playing cards in Spain

The enlightened Salvini, writing at the beginning of the 18th century, believed in the high probability that playing cards, as well as chess, were brought with them by the Mauritanians during their invasion of Europe. These Saracens captured all of Asia and Africa and tried to cross the sea back in the 7th century. By 832 they had completely conquered Sicily, in 710 they were in Spain, and around 731 they invaded France through the Languedoc and reached Arles. Southern Spain belonged to them until 1492. Around 842, Saracen detachments continued their journey from Sicily to Calabria and a few years later reached Rome and Tuscany. They remained in different regions of Italy until the 10th century. The Pope and Italian rulers used their services as soldiers to fight their ongoing wars. Compared to the Europeans, the Saracens seemed to be people free from prejudices and superstitions, and besides, there is irrefutable evidence that we owe them for the appearance of science, writing and, of course, chess in Europe. Moroccans are now addicted to the ancient Spanish game of ombre, which in many ways resembles the Hindu game called "Ganjifa". And now it is difficult to say whether this game was originally their own, or whether they adopted it from the Spaniards.

Bullet, in his book Recherches Historiques sur les Cartes a Joufer, written in 1757, and Monsignor Labbé Rivet in Eclaircissements Historiques et Critiques sur l'lnvention des Cartes á Jouer, published in Paris in 1780, believe that the penetration of European gambling maps to Spain came through a Saracen eastern source.

In the Arabian tales of the Arabian Nights, where we would have to look for information about playing cards, we do not find the slightest mention of them. It is for this reason, and because neither Marco Polo nor Chaucer even mentioned them, that Mr. Wiltshire, who in 1878 wrote the preface to the catalog of the British Museum collection of playing cards, believes in their European origin.

As is known, there are no Spanish playing cards made before 1600, although no one doubts that they appeared long before that time. An authoritative expert on French playing cards of our time, Dalleman believes that they could have been brought to Spain from France with the luggage of some knight from the retinue of du Guesclin, who went to battle with Pedro the Cruel around 1367.

Another of his not uninteresting assumptions is that playing cards could have come to Spain straight from Flanders on merchant ships plying between the two countries with shipments of wool and other vital goods. He adds in this regard that this assumption is confirmed in the very name of the cards in Spanish - Naipes. According to the author of the Spanish dictionary, Fernandez Cuesta, members of his country's Academy suggest that the word Naipe could come from the Flemish word Knaep, meaning "paper".

At various times in France, playing cards were referred to as "leaves", "pages" or even "paper for playing" - "papier a jouer". And in the 15th century, German Trappola cards were clearly called Trappola Blattem in the simple meaning of “leaves”.

Around 1540, the Flemish writer Eklu, or Pascasius Justus, traveled through Spain. He later wrote about the Spanish passion for card games. He traveled through many territories of this kingdom, where he could not get essential goods, even bread and wine, but in every most seedy village the residents could find playing cards.

Beginning in the 15th century, craftsmen from Toulouse and Trier produced a significant number of playing cards for Spain. And the artisans of Rouen sent playing cards made especially for the Spanish market on Flemish sailing ships, which went further - to Portugal. In addition, a brisk trade in Spanish cards with Limoges was established.

FRONTISPOSE FROM THE BOOK OF PASCASIUS JUSTA

These ancient Spanish maps are relatively small in size, especially those imported from Limoges and Rouen. They were stenciled in yellow, orange and green. Some of those in our collection measure only 2 7/8 x 1 5/8 inches and are considered very rare. They were made in the Italian manner, that is, by folding the paper of the card back to form a border marked with intricate diagonal lines along the front of the card. The paper itself is interesting for its texture, and the design can be described as a rough print from wooden clichés. Half a century later, playing cards became larger in size, particularly those coming from Trier and Bordeaux. In addition, more cheerful scarlet and blue paint was used, as well as yellow, which is most popular with the Spaniards. Our collection contains maps made by the Portuguese master Inferrera at the same time as the French ones. They are also stamped from wooden blocks and stenciled in orange and black. The paper is no different from that on which the maps from Limoges are drawn; and again the sheets of paper on the shirt side are folded to form a border. This side is left unpainted. At the top and bottom of each card is the name of the suit to which it belongs, as well as numbers or, in the case of face cards, initials indicating its rank. The structure and clothing of the characters on the figure cards evoke the most sincere sympathy, especially the cheerfully decorated gentlemen. Aces with letters A are decorated with dragons holding suit symbols in their mouths. Some of these cards, displayed in the National Library of Paris under the sign 96 Les Cartes Tarots et les Cartes Numerales, are radically different in color. They are carefully painted in colors of red and blue, similar to those used by Jean Valay of Trier.

COVER AND TITLE PAGE OF THE BOOK “THE PERFECT PLAYER”, 1734

The frontispiece of Hogarth's work depicts a game of "Shadow for Three" (Ombre a trois) at a triangular table. This ancient Spanish card game was very popular at the English court. It was replaced by a game for four participants called Quadrille, which was popular until the end of the 18th century.

The national Spanish game of ombre clearly dates back to quixotic times, and the Spanish deck for this game contains 40 cards. Eights, nines and tens are excluded from the deck, and also, in accordance with Eastern tradition, there is no queen. A cavalier or mounted knight is used instead. Unlike the Italian card kings, the Spanish ones always stand in a flowing robe studded with precious stones. Since ombre was often played by three people, throughout the 12th, 10th and 17th centuries. Triangular card tables were made especially for this game.

SPANISH PLAYING CARDS MADE IN MADRID IN 1792

1840 SPANISH PLAYING CARDS SHOWING FACE CARDS IN THE SUIT OF SWORDS AND THREE NUMERIC CARDS IN THE SUIT OF WANDS

The suit symbols for Spanish cards are cups, swords, denarii and crosses or wands, and again their design differs from the Italian one. Spanish swords look like straight, double-edged rapiers, and wands look like heavy, clumsy crosses. Spanish suit symbols are always parallel to each other and are never intertwined like Italian ones. The only exception in this regard are the cards of Master Inferrera.

In 1583, there were reports of a massive departure of card masters from Lyon to Spain due to exorbitant taxes imposed in their country, but all masters from Trier throughout the 17th century. supplied playing cards to cities throughout Spain.

PACKAGING FOR SPANISH PLAYING CARDS

LEFT: FRONTISCOPE OF THE BOOK LIBRO Y BARAJA BY DON FRANCISCO GAZAN WITH AN EXPLANATION OF THE MEANING AND APPLICATION OF THE HERALDIC CARDS OF DE BRIANVILLE, MADRID, 1748.

ON RIGHT: COAT OF ARMS OF EL REY DE OROS WITH HERALDIC BADGES OF POPE CLEMENT XII FROM THE CURRENT EDITION OF OLD CARDS DATA

Our collection contains a complete deck of 48 playing cards, consisting of nine number sheets, a knight, a cavalier and a king of four suits and made in Madrid in 1792. This is stated on the four denarii, and the name of the master can also be read there: “Real fabricados de Madrid horn D. Felix Solesie e Hijos.” The cards were stamped from wooden blocks and stenciled in red, blue, green and yellow. These figured cards, unlike the cards of the master Jean Valay, made 100 years earlier, look more like Spanish than French.

The cards of the deck, made in 1801, are numbered in the upper right corner of all suits from 1 to 12. On its packaging you can read the name Don Pedro Castillo. This numbering of cards became common only many years later. On the maps made using a stencil in Cadiz around 1840, there is no such numbering, nor on the maps of the master Don Sanmiarti son issued in 1852. It is also not visible on cards with the inscription “J.B. David en Cadiz y Puebla”, dated 1868. However, on cards several years younger, made in Barcelona by the master Cristobal Masso, there are numbers in the upper right corner.

Changes from these stenciled cards can be seen in the beautiful engravings of playing sheets made around 1872 by Fulladosa y Ca., located in Barcelona. The colors of the swords were painted blue, the cups red, the wands brown, and the denarii orange. On the figured cards we see images of a lady, a gentleman and a king, and all of them are given the names of Spanish rulers, grandees and noble ladies, starting with Pedro the Cruel and the Cid. Here we are dealing with the only example of Spanish card queens (a copy is in our possession) with the exception of those Portuguese cards made by Inferrera. But they are priced relatively low for themselves and have Italian characteristics.

Similar stencil maps have been preserved by the masters José Bau from Valencia, Leon and Don Segundo Olea from Cadiz, as well as the descendants of Cames, G. Villaseñor, Juan Codola, Sebastian Comas Bicart and Simeon Dura from Valencia.

SPANISH PLAYING CARDS MADE BY LITHOGRAPHY IN 1900

PLAYING CARD PACKAGING AND CAVALIER OF SWORDS, MEXICAN CARDS, 1868.

Sometimes, instead of the artist’s name, the names of companies (La Flor, El Ciervo or El Sol) were written on the cards, and the packaging was decorated ornately to match their names.

MEXICAN PLAYING CARDS NAIPES NACIONALES, 1896

Playing cards made by flat printing in 1899 by master Rodolfo de Olea from Cadiz have survived, and the following year cards by a certain Heraklio Fourniera from Victoria were released. In these decks, the characters of the figured cards are dressed in the costumes of their time; under the suit of cups, daring representatives of the nobility of the 17th century are depicted: swords - the Templars, denarii - courtesans, wands - Hindus.

The history of Mexican cards begins in 1868. They were made by F. Munguia, whose factory was first called La Campana, and then La Estrella, and was located in Mexico City. Meanwhile, J.B. Tejeda owned a card factory in Pueblo. Emilio Cuenca of Mexico City, who owns the El Sol factory, keeps a deck of 40-sheet card cards made in 1896, which everyone calls Naipes Nacionales. They depict Aztec symbols. The kings and knights are represented as Aztec leaders, the cavaliers are conquistadors, the suit of cups is drawn as Aztec ceramics, and instead of swords there are machetes, while denarii and wands are decorated with Aztec symbols.

Chapter 10
Playing cards in Switzerland

The story of playing cards in Switzerland begins from the moment when a certain brother from a monastery in Brefeld named Johann wrote the following words in perfect Latin: “De Moribus et Discipline Humane Conservations.” Thus, a well-known entertainment called a card game came to us in 1377, but when and who invented it, I have no way of knowing. But I want to note in this regard that it is credited to noble and simple people, especially if they play politely and do not bet their money. In the first chapter of his work, he says that “in the game that people call cards, they draw cards in different forms and play them in one way or another.” From such a statement we can conclude that playing cards have already firmly entered the life of the people and have been used for quite a long time, and there were several variants of the card game. He continues: “As this game has come down to us, there are four kings, depicted on four sheets of cards, and each of the kings holds a certain symbol in his hand and sits on the royal throne. And under the king there are two royal grooms. One of them is holding the symbol up in his hand, and the other is holding it down.”

These two equerries appear in a 15th century deck of cards, and later they are represented by queens and jacks or two jacks and knights. It is interesting to note that in the hands of all “one-headed” jacks, even those that are drawn today in Belgium, the baton in the hands of two of them is still held with the head up, while in the other two it is held down. The indicated date also coincides with the one noted in the archives of the court of Johann and Wenceslas of Brabant.

He goes on to describe a deck of 52 cards, adding that under these first named three cards there are ten more card sheets for each king, “on each of which is the symbol of the corresponding king: on the first - once, on the second - twice and etc".

Unfortunately, the author does not give a description of the symbols mentioned, and we will most likely not be able to find out whether this game came from Italy, Germany, France or Spain, or whether these cards were drawn in some neighboring valley with the Swiss suit symbols in in the form of coats of arms, acorns, roses and bells. These ancient Swiss card decks consisted of figured sheets with the image of the king, cavalier and jack still in use today, as well as aces, the symbols of which are painted on the banners. The Swiss deck made in Schaffhausen has six number sheets of each suit, while the deck made in Solothurn has nine.

There is written evidence of how, due to an old decree of the ruler of Lyon in 1583, many artisans had to leave for Switzerland due to excessive fees due on playing cards. This decree “frightened the card makers to such an extent that they preferred not to suffer, but to leave their kingdom and their native lands, without sacrificing their own freedom and taking with them the clichés for making these printed cards. In the prevailing unfavorable circumstances, which soon affected all of France, the king canceled this decree, but it was already too late.” However, in a chronicle compiled 15 years later, we find mention of special procedures introduced in Lyon for manufacturers of Swiss playing cards.

THE FIRST PLAYING CARDS MADE IN BASEL

Look at the Swiss suit symbols of coats of arms, bells, roses and acorns. Aces are indicated by banners, 16th century.

Many of the old Swiss cards that survive to this day are the same familiar Tarot cards. They were stamped from wooden blocks, they are large in size and very roughly executed, but they are very pleasing to the eye with their old red and blue shades. The oldest series in our collection were made by Johannes Pelagis Mayer from Constanta, at the end of the 17th century. owned a company producing playing cards. The images of la Papesse and le Pape are replaced by the cheerful Juno and Jupiter, and the spelling of their names in terms of awkwardness can only be rivaled by the design of the cards themselves.

THE LADY AND THE CAVALIER AND THE THREE AND FOUR OF CUPS FROM A SERIES OF TAROT CARDS BY MASTER JOHANNES PELAGIS MAYER OF CONSTANTZA, 1680.

KING, QUEEN, CAVALIER, AND ALSO TWO, THREE AND FOUR DENARIUS SERIES OF TAROT CARDS BY MASTER BERNARD SCHAER OF THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY.

JACK OF DENARIUS, KING OF CUPS AND TWO OF TRUMPS, AND THE SUN AND MOON FROM A DECK OF TAROT CARDS MADE IN CONSTANZA IN 1680.

UP: KINGS OF SPACE AND KINGS OF HEARTS FROM THE 1880 SWEDISH PLAYING CARD EDITION.

AT THE BOTTOM: THREE MAPS FROM AN EDITION PRINTED IN SWITZERLAND IN 1878.

The aces depict views of the country, and the face cards feature costumed characters and the coats of arms of the various cantons.

FROM AN ISSUANCE OF SWISS CARDS MADE IN 1874.

Here are the ace, two and six, as well as the three insignia of the coat of arms

In a deck of cards from the early 18th century, manufactured by Bernard Schaer in Miimliswil im cant. Solothurn, also Juno and Jupiter are listed instead of Papesse and Pope. The French iris flower is drawn on the two of cups and all the denarii of the number cards of that suit.

On the deuce of denarii of the third series of Tarot cards there is both the name of the manufacturer and the date of manufacture: “Joseph Jagi, M. Cartier a Mumliswil. 1779". Three French iris flowers were applied to the four denarii. The design of these cards is characterized by increased sharpness. The dominant tones are deep blue colors on a gray-blue background. The Tarot cards of these series retain the features of such cards made in France. One such feature is the position of the king of denarii: he has a dissatisfied expression on his face and always sits on the edge of his throne with his legs crossed.

THE QUEEN, THE CAVALIER AND THE JACK OF WANDS FROM A SERIES OF TAROT CARDS BY JOSEPH JAGI, CARD MASTER FROM MUMLISVIL, 1779.

These designs were mostly made in Switzerland, and the iris flowers could well have been added by French artisans during those long years of supplying the Swiss with playing cards. In the archives of Rouen, petitions for protection from excessive exactions were preserved, addressed to the authorized representatives of this city in 1701. Such petitions bear the signatures of at least forty card masters: “We beg you to think about the fact that the city of Rouen is considered the only city in our kingdom where you can to tell the truth. In this city goods are produced for export to foreign countries, and it is quite fair to say that more such goods are made in it than in other cities put together. In fact, the reputation of playing cards from Rouen is known in Spain, Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, Denmark, England and especially in Flanders. Therefore, in 1648, when the king imposed a tax on all cards made in his kingdom, he made an exception for playing cards made in Rouen.

Even Tarot cards of the last quarter of the 19th century. made according to these ancient sketches and preserving the established tradition. In 1747, a lengthy report by card masters appeared, compiled in Paris for the chairman of the State Council, describing the degree of popularity of French playing cards in various foreign countries. At the same time, the addressee’s attention was drawn, in particular, to the high demand for them in Switzerland, where people loved them the most.

The owner of a card manufacturing company, Jean Hemau, who lived at the end of the 17th century, recalls the attitude towards the figures and their accessories on his cards, imprinted from German clichés more than a century ago. This ancient reminder serves as an indication of the habit of popular prints of the most beautiful subjects executed by the first great masters of engraving. The church representatives did not object to the fact that the King of Acorns sits on a real Gothic throne, decorated on the sides with beautiful parchment panels typical of furniture of that time. The King of the Roses sits on a spacious low throne, very reminiscent of those depicted on maps issued in Nuremberg with medieval paintings. On the head of the king of bells is a crown decorated with flowers, which also came from a German card deck of the 16th century. And the king of coats of arms sits on one of the high chairs, which most often belonged to the German church setting of the 15th century.

Acorns grow on cuttings in a completely different way than is customary in nature, and roses end in leaves, in the middle of which, to everyone’s amazement, we find the head of an angel. A fortress is drawn on the four bells, on which hangs the coat of arms of the city of Epinali, where Jean Hemau lived and worked. Many old maps depict the Nuremberg lion and coat of arms in the same way.

Almost all the features of these ancient card decks are preserved on Swiss cards, which are still made in Switzerland.

CARDS FOR PLAYING "TRAPPOUL" WITH THE DESIGNATION OF GERMAN SUITS, EACH OF THESE TWO SHOWING ONE OF THE FOUR SEASONS

Offered here are figure cards and a deuce of arcana believed to be winter, circa 1885.

Another quirk of the Swiss cards in the Trappola deck, when German suit symbols are used, is the presence of four sketches on the sheets of four twos with symbols of spring, summer, autumn and winter. On such decks, the kings are usually depicted on a horse, the cavalier as an army officer, and the jack as a Swiss hunter.

On the maps of one of them, made for Eduard Glanzl of Innsbruck in 1878 by Heinrich Hoffmann of Vienna, the figures are drawn with one head and in historical costumes. The kings are represented by Rudolf, Frederick, Maximilian and Francis I, and the number sheets depict historical events and village life under their reign.

In another series, two jacks of each suit are named after Swiss characters, the most famous of whom is William Tell.

On the figure cards of another series, this time a deck of 52 sheets with French symbols of the suit, called Vues et Costumes Suisses, made by Jean Muller from Schaffhausen, the coats of arms and national costumes of the inhabitants of various cantons are depicted, and views of the Swiss Alps with villages are drawn on the aces , located among snow-capped mountain peaks.

FROM THE GENEVA RELEASE OF SWISS TAROT CARDS, 1873.

These popular ace decorations appear in many card decks with French suit symbols. The figured cards are made according to individual sketches, not similar to either French or German, with the exception of one series in our collection dating back to 1873. They are stamped from wooden blocks, and the sketches are clearly borrowed from old French cards by master Andrieu. The Jack of Spades is signed "Gassmann a Geneve". In addition, we have a series of Tarot cards from around the same time, made by the same artist. In this case, he departs from the old sketches and proposes black and white lassos, figures in a grotesque image that should surprise the viewer. Figure cards produced by flat-printing and stencil-colored number cards.

In addition, decks of miniature cards measuring ¾ × ½ inches in small sliding covers made in Interlaken and Geneva survive.

Attention! This is an introductory fragment of the book.

If you liked the beginning of the book, then the full version can be purchased from our partner - the distributor of legal content, LitRes LLC.