Prague pattern, Bonaparte

Prague or Bohemian pattern, Bonapate, 32+1c

This is a more modern example of the "Prague pattern". This particular example was purchased just over a year ago. It is an example of the Prague pattern, one of the more charming patterns in use today.
For a similar deck, made by another manufacturer, see http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2012/01/jednohave-prague-pattern-piatnik.html  

The pattern is pretty similar to the Piatnik version. Note the ace of leaves, where the heraldical shield in the Piatnik version is replaced by a design involving a pair of fishes. Apart from that, the greatest differnce is in the colour of the deck. The rich, vibrant greens and reds have been replaced by lighter shades. I feel this removes much of the beauty of the cards. 

 It seems that the deck has been deliberatly given a very "rough-hewn"appearance. 

The pip cards of the deck. The little vignettes at the bottom of each card are identical to their Piatnik cousins. The only curiosity is the eight of bells ( top row, 2nd from left). Like the Piatnik card, it contains the maker's name. However, the dog in this card is riderless ( unlike the Piatnik). In addition the 8 of bells possesses a barcode. 

Tell pattern , Bonaparte

(Tell pattern), Bonaparte, 32c +1

The following deck is made by Bonaparte, a Czechoslovakian company. It is based on the  "Tell pattern", but has several notable differences.

The first differnce is the lack of names. Most "tell pattern" decks name the court cards and aces. For example, the ace of leaves ( Top row, first card from left) is typically labelled ozsp/herbst , meaning autumn. 

The court cards in such decks are usually labelled, which is also absent in this deck. For example, the ober of acorns ( Bottom row, 3rd from left) is titled "William Tell". This is absent, but the card still depicts Tell-- The cross-bow he holds is Tell-ing! 

Apart from the differences above, the cards are quite similar to most patterns. The only differnce appears to be the use of more muted palate of colours. 

( compare http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2011/10/magyar-kartya.html  and http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2011/11/miniature-tell-pattern-piatnik.html )

 Comparisons between the present deck ( marked B) and a more typical deck, by Piatnik. 

(marked P)  The top row shows the court cards, and the differences are quite obvious. 

The makers seem to have removed all references to the William tell legend in the pip cards. For example, in the 8 of hearts, ( Bottom row, first pair from left), the Piatnik deck depicts a scene in the  William tell legend where he steers a boat across  a stormy lake. The Bonaparte deck shows a simple sailing ship. 

Although the scenes in the cards have been altered, the designers of the Bonaparte deck have decided to retain the theme of the cards. The 7 of bells ( First pair from left) depicts a parting couple, but the piatnik deck includes a child-- presumably Tell's son. The 7 of hearts ( second pair from left) instead of showing Gessler's death, shows a simple mounted figure. 

"Cego speilkarte" (FX Schmid)

"Cego speilkarte" -- FX Schmid, 54c. ( printed c.  1975)

Here is another Tarock deck, published by FX schmid. Although I have seen many pictures of this deck ever since I started collecting, I have only recently came across one such deck on sale-- on Ebay.It is apparent that this deck is no longer printed. The present deck ( which I incline to call the "cego tarock") differs greatly from any other tarock deck.

This pattern is extremely similar to the bourgeoisie tarot.(http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2012/02/french-tarot-grimand-part-i.html and http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2012/02/french-tarot-grimand-part-ii.html) I shall attempt to point out the distinguishing features of this deck as I go along.

As you can see, the numbers indicating the value of the trumps are located in the centre of the cards. Likewise, the trump cards are illustrated by pastoral scenes. Note the fool ( 1st from left) He is dressed in green wearing a red hat, and playing a mandolin. This particular card is often an invaluable aid in distinguishing decks.

Here are the rest of the trumps of this deck.

 

The court cards: Note the jack of clubs ( 4th from left) he wears a shawl over his shoulder.

as you can see, the figures in this deck are rendered in a markedly different style from the other decks, with a greater use of green

Note the knight of diamonds ( 3rd from left). his back faces the viewer. This card is almost identical to the knight of diamonds in the bourgeoisie tarot

 

 

Binokel/Gaigel ( Württemberg pattern)

"Binokel/Gaigel" (Württemberg pattern), Nürnberger spielkarten verlag- 48c. ( 2 x 24)

We again have another oddity. This edition of the Württemberg pattern by Nürnberger spielkarten differs substantially from other editions. For starters, the figures look very different from other editions, but on closer examination, this edition at least follows the spirit of the design.

 Note the following differences from the more standard pattern: ( see http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2011/12/wurttemberg-pattern-ass-altenburg.html)

1- The obers do not have the word "ober" written out on them in full ( as per the standard pattern)
2- The ober of leaves does not wear a turban, or carry a whip [ but he and the others ride really cute horses :) ]
3- The central row of hearts in the tens are coloured yellow and green, like the " type S" barvarian pattern
4- A champange bottle with it's cork flying out of it's neck is depicted on the ace of acorns

Kaffehaus Tarock ( Piatnik)

Kaffehaus Tarock ( Piatnik)- 54c.

 In my opinion, this deck is probably the most beautiful of all the tarock decks, with it's colourful illustrations. ( compare http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/02/tarock-ass.html)
The deck is slightly larger than normal tarock decks.Otherwise, it is identical to the standard versions.

I shall leave the pictures to tell the rest of the story.

William tell / Viennese large crown pattern ( Piatnik)

William tell / Viennese large crown pattern ( Piatnik) - 36c.

The following deck is a very curious deck. It is comprised of 2 patterns of playing cards, the Viennese large crown, and the William tell pattern, one at each end of the card . I like to call such decks "Janus"decks.

 The motivation for producing such chimeras , is that in some countries, like Austria, card-players use two diffrent types of playing cards, which are completely diffrent from one another. Therefore , as a comprmise, makers sometimes print such decks, with one type of card at one end, and the other at the other end. Therefore, the dispute is settled.
 Also note that this deck has 6s. Normaly, Austrian large crown decks do not have 6s.

Here are the number cards of the deck. Note the decoration on the german suited side, which is     copied faithfuly!

Here is the same deck, with the french suited side facing upwards

see also;

http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2011/10/magyar-kartya.html

and

http://anthonylesq.blogspot.sg/2011/11/preference-vienna-large-crown-pattern.html

Berlin pattern ( FX schmid)

Berlin pattern "Skat" ( FX schmid) , 32c.
The Berlin pattern, or north German pattern as it is more properly known, is one of the more widespread patterns in germany, its use not being confined to Berlin.  The confusion of the 2 names is beacuse the pattern was first printed by a company in Berlin, who printed its address on all of the court cards.
The pattern itself is a version of the Paris pattern, which you can see here:
http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/10/paris-pattern-grimaud.html

"Doppelkopf" ( piatnik )

"Doppelkopf" , saxon pattern , Piatnik , 24c.
[ The ace of acorns on the deck bears the legend " Sehr feine schwerdter deutsche"- "extra fine sword-german ", a refrence to the swords found on the single faced version's ace of acorns]
The following deck is the 24-card version of a saxon pattern ( which normaly comes in 32 card decks), for playing the game of doppelkopf (but the game in question actualy needs 2 such decks of cards shuffled together- go figure)
For another version of the deck, see : http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/10/saxony-pattern-cards-single-vs-double.html
Note the ace of hearts . In the middle of the card, there is a blank circle. I suspect this was where the tax stamp was supposed to go.

franconian pattern, ASS

Franconian pattern, ASS
The following pack is related to the Prague pattern and the barvarian pattern. Note the similarity of the Ober of leaves to the same card in the Salzburg pattern,

see also:

http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/01/jednohave-prague-pattern-piatnik.html

http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/11/schafkopf-bavarian-pattern-playing.html

http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/10/salzburger-bild-einfachdutche.html

"Jednohlavé" ( prague pattern) Piatnik

"Jednohlavé" (prague pattern) by Piatnik , 32c.
this deck is the "prague" or "bohemian" pattern. In my opinion , this deck is one of the most charming of the german suited decks. 
Note the rather crudely drawn lion on the ace of acorns ( 1st pic, 4th from left)
This deck is similar to to the franconian pattern,
(http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/01/franconian-pattern-ass.html)
and bears similarities to the Salzburg pattern
( http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/10/salzburger-bild-einfachdutche.html)
EDIT; As pointed out by Marnen,  Jednohlavé means "Single headed". 

swiss playing cards "Jass" ( Müller)

Swiss playing cards, AG Müller, 36c.
In switzerland, two kinds of playing cards are used. there is one, with french suits, and another, with the native swiss suits, described here.
 The native swiss playing cards are a very interesting deck to say the least. the cards maintain some ancient features that were one present in german playing cards, but now long gone.
It has been said that the swiss cardmakers were so conservative, a man from the 15th c. will be quite at home with the playing cards of 1950s schaffhausen.
Things of note:
1- the tens have been replaced by banners, a feature found in the most primitive of german cards ( fith card from right in all of the pictures)
2 the court cards have their ranks spelled out (  viz; KÖING, OBER, UNDER)

for the french suited pattern mentioned earlier, see:

http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/01/piquet-swiss-french-pattern-muller.html

Württemberg pattern , ASS altenburg

Württemberg pattern , 48 cards ( 2 x 24) , ASS altenburg.

The Württemberg pattern is somewhat of a hodge-podge. The court cards probably evolved from the courts of a Tarock ( german version of tarot) deck , hence the mounted obers in the deck ( tarot/tarock decks, needless to say, have knights).
The deck comes in two forms, the first, and less common form, is a normal 32- card deck , for playing skat, schafkopf ( sheepshead),  &c. The second, and more common form, ( shown here) is comprised of two 24-card decks united together, with the following ranks in each suit
Ace, King, Ober, Under , 10, 7
The curious ranking is because this deck is used to play the game of "binokel", in which the 10 and 7 hold special powers. This game, which my American readers may know as "pinochle" used to be played with a pair of 32 card decks, till the players threw out the non-scoring ranks of eight and nine.
Note the following features:
1- The obers have their name written out in full on them
2-The under of bells carries a knapsack
3- The aces are decorated with pictures of food and drink.

"schafkopf" ( bavarian pattern playing cards, stralsund type)

Barvarian pattern playing cards by F.X schmidt. 36 c.
this version of the bavarian pattern is called the 'stralsund' type, so called because it was made in stralsund. http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2011/10/bavarian-pattern-playing-cards-munchen.html
there are very small diffrences between this and the München type, most naotbly in the ober of acorns, who carries a triangular shield here insted of a oval one in the München type. also note the 10 of hearts, whos central pips are green & yellow, unlike the stralsund's plain red.