New Figures by A. I. Charlemagne, 1862
“Renaissance” playing card designed by A I Charlemagne 1862. but not published until 2018.
“New Figures” playing cards from a set of watercoloured drawings by Adolf Iosifovich Charlemagne, a Russian painter of historical and battle scenes, 1862. All the court cards wear medieval costumes, so the pack is often called “in the style of Renaissance”. A major innovation was that the faces acquired distinguishable emotiveness, thoughts and feelings peculiar to each portrait.

Above: playing cards designed by A I Charlemagne, based on the original sketches of 1862, published by The Peterhof State Museum in 2010. There were no jokers or aces. Click to zoom
It appears that these sketches were not accepted by the management of the Card Factory at the Imperial Educational House, so they were never printed by the Imperial playing card factory. However, in 2018 the Russian Playing Card Society, together with Makwell, published an enhanced version based on Charlemagne’s sketches, with the addition of 2 jokers, a background pattern, elaborate indices and sparkling gold foil.



Above: “New Figures” playing cards published by the Russian Playing Card Society together with Makwell in 2018, based on the original designs by A I Charlemagne.
REFERENCES & CREDITS
Russian Playing Card Society announcement: February 2019►
Related Articles

Whist by Ditha Moser
Ditha Moser created this minimalist Whist deck in 1905, in the style of the Vienna Secession art mov...

Egyptium
“Egyptium” is a hand-illustrated deck of fantasy playing cards with artwork by Russian artist Oleg S...

Keith Haring playing cards
Energetic graffiti images by the American artist Keith Haring.

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

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

Carte di Natale
Designed by Pier Canosa as a Christmas pack for the Cortina Art Gallery in Milan.

Queen of Arts
A wide variety of women artists celebrated on cards with illustrations by Laura Callaghan.

Fredericks & Mae playing cards
A rainbow pack from the design team of Fredericks & Mae and Benjamin English.

Pam is the Knave of Clubs
Playing cards as metaphors in 18th century art - from fate, chance and social hierarchy t...

Russian Circus deck
The Russian Circus deck published by the Imperial Playing Card Factory, St Petersburg.

Leadmill playing cards
Promotional pack for an arts centre in Sheffield with designs by Martin F. Bedford.

Typographic Playing Cards
Typographic Playing Cards designed by Jim Sutherland, c.2010.

Damn! Fools by Moon
Damn! Fools playing cards designed by Leo Scherfig, 2022.

Crown Hill playing cards
Crown Hill playing cards with illustrations by Corrine Guiney, USA,

Heathen Divinities
Handmade playing cards from the British Museum depicting classical Greek and Roman gods and goddesse...

Victor Hugo “L’homme qui rit”
Two different packs with costume designs for Victor Hugo plays, issued on the centenary of his deat...
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days