French Suited German Engraved cards c1610 to 1650
with English Hand Tax Stamp
32 cards engraved cards by an unknown artist from a pack of 52 - initials IS or SI. Cards are hand coloured and reflect hunting and animal scenes from the serious to the comic - don't you just love the 10 Spades with the cat fiddling as the mice dance aground at his feet !
Commenting on the cards in the United States Playing Card Companies collection Hargrave says "Of cards with French suit signs in these German lands, there are many. The earliest one we have is a pack of 52 cards, from coper plates and coloured by hand, and most of them bear the monogram of an unknown artist. Besides the suit signs arranged in the usual manner they picture a day's hunting across the field and through the forests of early seventeenth century Germany. The Kings and valets are debonair gentlemen and the Queens gracious little ladies. No other example of these cards are known to exist." She then illustrates four of them and classifies them as "Hunting series, 1610"
Virginia Wayland states in the IPCS Journal Volume XIII, No 1 [ August 1979 ] that these cards must have been seen by John Lenthall as he followed the design in his Forest Cards [ Pack No: XXII ] often reversing the image.
Uniqueness is a word we don't often use but in addition to this decks obvious rarity it also bears an English Hand Tax Stamp of c 1712 a Red Stock in Hand Stamp which would have been applied on importation.
Condition is varied and the high definition scans of the cards reveal all. |
