Costumes of Turkey Tarot
‘National Costumes of Turkey’ tarot by Industrie Comptoir, Leipzig, c.1800-1825.
The superb designs on these tarot trumps and the 16 court cards in the pack are whole-length coloured figures of men and women in the national costumes of Turkey, with large inline roman numerals in the spaces at top and bottom of the trump cards. The (unnumbered) Fool card is a dancing harlequin with cymbals (from Commedia dell’Arte). The numeral cards are French-suited with no illustrations, just plain pips. Each costume card has a description printed down the sides.
The cards are contained in their original box with the title "Extra Feine Tarok-Karte mit Türkischen Nationaltrachten. Leipzig im Industrie Comptoir". In his PhD thesis Ömer Parlak, (2019, p.10) notes that “the image of the Turk has never been a static one: on the contrary, it has evolved and gained different meanings throughout its history in Europe”.

The Court Cards
Lettered at the feet of the knave of clubs (bottom left) is the name of the engraver Heinrich Müller: "H. Müller fec."





Above: cards from ‘Costumes of Turkey’ tarot by Industrie Comptoir, Leipzig, c.1800-25. 78 cards; hand-coloured etching; backs printed in blue with a pattern of joined hexagons, each with a dot in the centre. © The Trustees of the British Museum • Museum number 1876,1014.1134-1210►
References
Parlak, Ömer Fatih, 2018. The image of the Turk in early modern board games and playing cards, doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2019.
Willshire, W. H.: A Descriptive Catalogue of Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum, (German 272), Trustees of the British Museum, 1876, reprint 1975.

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.
Related Articles

Tarot hiéroglyphique égyptien
The design of the cards draws inspiration from various religious and philosophical traditions merged...

Alan Tarot Deck
Reprint of a Tarock pack originally designed by Argio Orell for the Austrian Lloyd shipping company....

Tarot Baraja Egipcia
Curious Tarot with Egyptian-style trumps issued by Franco Mora Ruiz from Mexico.

Le Tarot de Sète
Reinterpretation of the Tarot de Marseille by Julien Labat, an artist from Sète.

Jim Lyngvild playing cards
Photographs of Danish royalty as imagined by fashion designer Jim Lyngvild.

Tarot Philatélique
Tarot game pack with French postage stamps on all the courts, aces and trumps.

Il Tarocco del Mondo Nuovo
Imaginative Tarot card designs by Amerigo Folchi relating to Columbus and the New World.

22 Artisti Liguri in 22 Arcani
Collaborative set of major arcana devoted to Christopher Columbus and his voyages of discovery.

The Tarot of Meditation – Yeager Tarot
Marty Yeager’s original Tarot of Meditation from 1975, republished later by U.S. Games Systems, Inc....

Engel-Tarot
Set of major arcana designed by Alois Hanslian depicting angels throughout.

Virgil Solis
Remarkable pack of 52 animal-suited playing-cards designed and etched by Virgil Solis.

Tarot Actuel 1984
Major arcana to cut out, issued with the French magazine Actuel, using photographic images.

Politiker-Skat by Bubec
Caricatures of world leaders, including many German politicians, by the artist Bubec.

Le Poker Politique
French politicians and various world leaders caricatured by the German artist Bubec.

Mountain Dream Tarot
Groundbreaking Tarot created by Bea Nettles, using photographs and photo montage.

Il Tarocco Mitologico
Fully pictorial Tarot designed by Amerigo Folchi with figures mainly from Greek mythology.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days