Lequart Aluette
Spanish-suited Aluette pack with 'FABRICANDO IN MADRID' printed on the Two of Swords and the legend Lequart - Paris printed in the top left corners of the court cards.
Lequart, Paris - Aluette
Fifteenth century games such as "luettes" and "vaches" may have been the ancestors of the French card game of Aluette. Spanish-suited cards were used and earlier examples had few embellishments: the King of Coins wielded an axe and the 5 of Coins shows a kissing couple (presumably Ferdinand and Isabella). These gradually evolved into the idiosyncratic designs shown here including female 'cavalières', storks on the 2 and 3 of Cups, the lying cow, the little boy swinging on the 2 of Batons, the Indian on the Ace of Batons and so on. This is now known as the Modern Aluette pattern. See also → Dieudonné Aluette
Above: Spanish-suited Aluette pack with 'FABRICANDO IN MADRID' printed on the Two of Swords and the legend Lequart - Paris printed in the top left corners of the court cards. The Four of Coins (fourth row) carries the monogram 'CM' within a Star of David. Possibly made in Belgium in imitation of French production. Woodblock and stencil printing. The size of the cards is: 86 x 56 mms. See also → Dieudonné Aluette
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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