Boisse English pattern
Boisse English pattern, c.1870 based on designs by De La Rue.
E. Boisse English pattern, c.1870
Above: uncut sheet of standard English pattern full-figure courts, ornate blue outlines, printed by E. Boisse, Bordeaux, c.1870. There had been a trend of ornamented court cards since the 1840s when De La Rue's letterpress printing technology facilitated a move away from woodblocks.
Right: De La Rue's designs used between c.1840-65 with more fancy patterning on the clothes, also with blue outlines. These became the basis for all De La Rue's later double-ended courts and comparison with the example by Boisse shown above reveals a close similarity.
By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.
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