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Nine art-nouveau transformation playing cards

Published March 04, 2023 Updated March 04, 2023

by an unknown artist

1900 France Anonymous Art Nouveau & Jugendstil Transformation

Unfortunately I only have nine of these wonderful playing cards in which these 9 pip cards have been transformed into mesmerising Art-nouveau (or Jugendstil) designs.
I have no idea who the artist was but it was at the least a talented amateur with a feel for the the style of the period. The cards used are from a standard double ended French pack from the period. The watermark (used between 1875 and 1945) is easily seen on the scan.

If only we knew about the rest of the pack !


Below: the reverse of the cards.

All cards shown are from the collection of Paul Symons ©

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By Paul Symons

Member since February 01, 2016

I'm British but I have now lived in the Netherlands for more than 50 years and am still enjoying every minute of it. I started collecting playing cards in the early 1980’s after speaking with my neighbour who was at that time a croupier in a casino. I started with just collecting jokers, but that soon led me to complete packs of cards and eventually to specialising in old and antique playing cards, particularly those of C.L. Wüst of Frankfurt, Germany. I am presently the Dutch representative of the I.P.C.S. and the auctioneer at the IPCS conventions.

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