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Illustrated piquet cards

Published December 10, 2023 Updated December 17, 2023

Bavarian piquet cards with oriental illustrations produced by Andreas Benedict Göbl, Munich, late 18th c.

Germany Göbl Piquet

German suited piquet cards by Andreas Benedict Göbl, Munich, single-ended, engraved with hand-coloured illustrations. Court cards show oriental characters all wearing thin moustaches. The lower and upper knaves hold their suit signs low or high, respectively, with seated, bald-headed ‘kings’ - no crowns - distinguished with two suit symbols. The number cards are decorated with humorous vignettes depicting musicians and other scenes. The maker’s cartouche can be seen on the eight of bells which reads “Andreas Benedict Göbl kartnfabricant in München”. The nine of bells has a lion supporting the arms of Bavaria.

Andreas Benedict Göbl, Munich, piquet pack of 32 illustrated playing-cards, late 18th century © The Trustees of the British Museum Andreas Benedict Göbl, Munich, piquet pack of 32 illustrated playing-cards, late 18th century © The Trustees of the British Museum

Above: Andreas Benedict Göbl, Munich, piquet pack of 32 illustrated playing-cards, late 18th century. Hand-coloured etching, backs printed with a pattern blue stars. © The Trustees of the British Museum • Museum number 1896,0501.267

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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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