"Bresciane" ( Dal Negro)

"Bresciane" ( Dal Negro), 52c.

Another Bresciane, this time by Dal negro. Compare http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2011/11/bresciane-modanio.html
Note the ace of coins. ( 1st Pic,  1st row, 1st from right)  In this deck It is a blank circle. This is a relic form the days where cards were taxed. A space was left on the ace of coins so as to allow the tax-stamp to be placed on it .

The international pattern- an overview

Behold, four Kings, in Majesty rever'd,
With hoary Whiskers and a forky Beard;
And four fair Queens whose Hands sustain a Flow'r,
Th' expressive Emblem of their softer Pow'r;
Four Knaves in Garbs succinct, a trusty Band;
Caps on their heads, and Halberds in their hand;
And particolour'd Troops, a shining Train,
Draw forth to combat on the Velvet Plain.

(Alex. Pope- The rape of the lock)

Now that we have been through six decks of the international pattern , it is time to compare them all togeteher. The following dizen images would very much speak for themselves in describing the characteristics of this pattern;

The international pattern VI- Dal negro

Dal negro - "Poker 36" - 36c.
In our journey through the internatioal patterns, we shall now proced towards cards made by European makers. The most famous of these is the belgian cartamundi, but I shall now show a  very curiosus deck made by the Italian maker Dal negro.
  This deck is  unusual, for it does not have 52 cards in it. Rather, it has 36 cards, breaking to 9 cards in each suit, viz;

     6 ,7 ,8 ,9 ,10 , Jack  Queen,  King , Ace

In  europe, as some of my readers may know, it is normal to have decks to contain less than 52 cards, but it is very unusual to have a deck of the international pattern treated as such. One can only wonder what games are played with it. 

The deck aside,  the cards are not very unusual.

I note the similarity to the waddingtons deck ( see http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/03/international-pattern-part-i.html)

II- note the ace of hearts. it bears a little stamp that bears the makers name. this feature is perculiar to european makers.
III- note the Jack of clubs. along the middle of the figure, is a band that bears the maker's name. This feature is almost never found in Englush made cards, save the earliest ones.

"Tarocco bolognese" (Dal negro)- part II

I shall procced to discuss the trumps of this deck.
The trump sequence used here is very unusual, and idosyncratic.

the top row of the above picture shows the lowest 6 trumps. from the left, are the Fool, the magician (operating a shell game) , and the four moors. The reason why I show only three cards, is that there are two copies of the middle of the three ( 4th from left). ( see http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/12/tarocco-bolognese-dal-negro.html for history of the moors)

we then procced to the second row, and the trumps 12-16. The hanged man [12] is depited twice on the card, and so on to 16, the star

we now arrive at the top 4 trumps, " la Grànda "- the greats. The cards, are by tradition, not named, so the player is to deduce the rank from the image. the cards are, from L-R, the moon, the sun, the angel and the world. 

Tarocco bolognese , Dal negro- part I

Tarocco bolognese , Dal negro. 62 cards.
 the court cards of this deck are almost identical to the ones in the "primera bolognese " pattern http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/10/primera-bolognese-modanio.html, save with the addition of queens.

It would also be of interest that this pattern  was one of the first patterns to be double faced, ( c. 1800)