Beschreibung:

German playing cards. Swiss Canton Costumes, unknown maker, circa 1860, a complete deck of 52 stencil coloured engraved playing cards, comprising 4 suits of 13 (French suits), each with pip cards ace-10, and 3 double-ended court cards, the court depicting characters in traditional Swiss costumes, and at the corners the arms of two Swiss cantons, each ace with two Swiss views, lightly dust-soiled, a little bowed, few minor marks, versos red dotted hexagons with large central dots, each card 90 x 60 mm, together with: Munchner Jugend pack, Stralsund: Vereinigte Stralsunder Spielkarten-Fabriken (VSS), 1898, the complete deck of 36 colour lithographed playing cards, designed by Julias Diez, lithographed by J.C. Hirth in München, comprising 4 suits of 9 (German suits), each with pip cards daus and 6-10, and 3 single-figure court cards, 2 of hearts with tax stamp, 9 of hearts with 'I D 1897', king of hearts with 'I D' to lower corner, 6 of acorns with 'I D' in the design, 6 of hearts and 7 of bells with trademark stamps (cross with Stralsund arms, and shield with 3 stars respectively), rounded corners, no condition points to note, versos grey with black stags beneath twisted banners, each card 120 x 67, plus: Dutch scenic aces, Darmstadt: Frommann and Morian, circa 1890, a complete Ombre deck of 40 stencil coloured engraved playing cards, comprising 4 suits of 10 (French suits), each with pip cards ace-7, and 3 double-ended non-standard romantic court cards, each ace with two Dutch views, some spotting (mainly to pip cards), gilt rounded corners, versos red dotted hexagons, each card 92 x 61 mm, with original red printed wrapper titled 'No. 26.', spotted with a little wear to folds, with 2 other packs: VSS circa 1880, Prussian pattern, 32 cards complete; unknown maker (thought to be German, possibly Belgian), circa 1880, romantic courts, with scenic aces showing views around Heidelburg, 52 cards complete, 16 or 20 cards from each pack corner mounted onto 5 display boards, encapsulated in clear plastic (not examined out of boards), the remainder contained in plastic bags, the boards 54.5 x 40 cm (Quantity: 5) First item: these packs of Swiss canton costume cards were produced by various German manufacturers, including C.L. Wüst who was making these decks around 1860 and later (Bube Dame König (1982) 149, and others). The versos of this unusual pack have the same pattern as that in Bube Dame König and also two Wüst packs listed in the Cary collection (Ger 437 & 438) although the latter two are blue, not red as here. However the views on the aces do not correspond with those on any other pack found, and the courts, although generally following the usual designs, have been rearranged with some new figures introduced. Second item: Berry (1995), German 588; Bube Dame König (1982) 108; Cary collection, Ger 507; Fournier, Germanic 174; Hargrave, pp.121 & 124. Third item: World Web Playing Cards Museum 01332/01 & /02. The second example has a wrapper with the title 'L'Hombre No. 26'.