tarocco piemontesi (modanio), part 1

tarocco piemontesi , modanio, 78 c.
this tarot deck is used in piedmont for playing various games ( and if you are one of those who think the tarot is for fortune telling, please see http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-tarot.html)
Since a deck of 78 cards is quite hard to examine in one post, I shall break it down into it's 2 parts, viz: the trumps and suit cards. this post examones the suit cards.

Now, one of the defining features of a tarot deck is the inclusion of an extra rank into the court/picture cards, the knight. this brings the total number of court cards from 12 to 16.
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Note the followng features in the deck:
I- three of the forur ourts bear names in italian. the only rank that is unnamed is the jack, or valet.
II the 2 of coins has a sort of ribbon wrapped around the pips. this feature is found in other italian decks.
http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/11/bresciane-modanio.html
III the pips of the coins bear numbers in them.

"preference" ( vienna large crown pattern)

"preference"by ASS altenburger .32 c, no indexes

Preference is a the name of a game played in Austria & Russia. The cards that you see here are of the viennese large crown patern, a highly idosyncratic pattern of that country.
Interesting features to look out are the Jack of clubs, holding an impliment that  has been described as a "carpet beater" ,but I think is actually a sort of spear. Also note the king of spades, who bears the name of the company on a sash he is wearing.
the jack of hearts bears the company's address, "IN ALTENBERG" , split between the 2 flags he is holding. This pattern also comes in a 24- card form for playing schnapsen

Triestine pattern

Treistine pattern, Modanio, 40 cards.
This queer looking pattern is closely related to the Venitian pattern, as evidenced by the mottoes on the aces, and the figures on the courts.
the courts have the rather convenient ( at least if you know italian) feature of having labels on them, spelling out the card's rank and suit. for instance, the text on the king of coins reads "RE DE DANARI" - "KING OF COINS" ( lit "money") . handy of you have a bad memory.
see also-> http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/10/trevigiane-venetian-pattern.html

here you can compare the venetian ( top) and treistine ( bottom) cards

"lombarde" ( lombardy pattern )

Lombardy pattern by Modanio.
40 cards.
Note the jack of clubs. on his chest is the arms of -  the house of visconte* a serpent busy swallowing a man...
 This pattern also comes in a form with indexes ( the court cards bear their titles in italian, spelled vertically on the corners, and the pips have indexes like those on normal playing cards), called the " lombarde estro"( see http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/05/milaneselombardy-pattern-ag-muller.html)

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscione

"piemontesi" ( piedmont pattern)

 Piedmont pattern by Modanio.
40 cards.
note the decorative borders round the aces.
This pattern retains some hints of the paris pattern. for example, the fan on the queen of clubs.

see also: http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/10/paris-pattern-single-faced.html

Bavarian pattern playing cards ( münchen type)

Bavarian pattern playing cards."kurze scharfe"
by FX schmid
24 cards.
there are two types of bacvarian pattern, the münchen type, and the Stralsund type.
they are very similar, with only very slight diffrences between them, the most obvious being that the ober of acorns has a  round shield on the munchen type, and a pointed one on the Stralsund type
for a münchen type deck, see:
 http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/11/schafkopf-bavarian-pattern-playing.html

Prussian pattern cards

These beautiful cards are, sadly, it appears, no longer printed.
from the tax stamp of the ace of hearts (1st picture, topmost row, 5th from left)  was used from 1920-1931*
tthe cards were printed in Altenburg, as you can see from the 7 of bells ( 1st pic, 2nd row, 1st card)
this deck is of 32 cards, printed by lithography
the seven of hearts ( 1st picture, topmost row, 1st from left) has a faint signature on it.
A curious feature of these cards is the fact that they have only been partially double faced.

A curious feature of these cards is the fact that they have only been partially double faced.
Aldough the court cards are properly double faced, the pip cards still have illustrations on their bottom half, but more of views of germany rather than amusing scenes.

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)