miniature "tell pattern" piatnik

miniature "tell pattern", by piatnik. 32 cards.
a pleasing miniature of the "william tell"/ four seasons pattern.
these cards are harldly used in Germany at all, instead being used in central europe.
Note the pip cards. they have little scenes from the wtell legend, like the death of Tell's archenemy, gessleer, on the 7 of hearts.
for a Hungarian version of this pattern, see: http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/10/magyar-kartya.html

"magyar kártya"

"magyar kártya" by" luxus", commonly known as "william tell" or "seasons pattern"
32 cards.
this deck is another german-suited pattern, but, unlike the other german suited patterns, it mantains the vinegettes on the number cards, E.G - the death of gessler on the 7 of hearts.

note the fact that the kings ride horses. this is unique amongst the german patterns.

the reason why this deck is called the 'tell'pattern is because the ober of acorns( 1st pic, 2nd row, 3rd from lest) is named 'william tell' ( or tell vilmos in hungarian ) . the other coury cards (kings excepting) are also named after characters in the tell legend. the ober of hearts ( 2nd pic, 2nd row, 3rd from left) is named"herman gessler"- tell's arch enemy.
As for the name "seasons pattern"- well, the 4 aces depict the 4 seasons.

saxony pattern cards, single vs double faced

The first deck shown is a traditional saxony patter, which is, in my opinion, the prettiest of the decks to come out of Germany.

the suit of bells (2nd picture) is particularly charming.
Note the Peeping Tom on the ace ( top row, 3rd card from left) 
on the 8 of bells ( 3rd pic, 2nd row, first card from the left), there is a depiction of chickens mating.
above them are strung some sausages. nice.....

sadly, this patern is almost extinct right now. if you buy a saxon pattern, today, you would end up with the "double faced "version...

when you compare the pictures, it is easy why this is called the double faced version.
aldough this version is admittedly easier to play with, it has lost some of the  detail, like the little pictures on the bottom of the cards, ( on the eight of bells, there are neither sausages nor trysting chickens) but still, some features remain (like the roman number X on tens, and the peeping tom on the ace of bells)