Loewe

Published September 28, 2017 • Updated March 03, 2023

Deck designed by J. L. Picardo for Loewe, 1959.

1959 Spain Heraclio Fournier J. L. Picardo Advertising Art & Design

Publicity deck specially designed by J. L. Picardo in medieval style for fashion house Loewe and manufactured by Heraclio Fournier, 1959.

Deck designed by J. L. Picardo for Loewe, 1959

Above: deck specially designed by J. L. Picardo for Loewe and manufactured by Heraclio Fournier, 1959. 52 cards + 2 jokers, gilded corners. The tax stamp on the four of clubs reads "Timbre sobre Naipes Cinco Pesetas" flying wheel design in blue. The same court card designs were used in a later edition produced for Aries in c.1979 (shown below).

The Aries Edition - by Roddy Somerville

Unless the scans of the Loewe pack are not terribly accurate, the colours in the Aries pack are slightly different, particularly the bright red in place of mauve. The designer's name still appears on the King of Spades. The Ace of Spades indicates that this is (another) 'exclusive' edition, this time for Aries. The 4 of Clubs has the tax stamp which, if the date of 1979 is correct, must be one of the last uses of this stamp. I also show the Joker (not shown in the scans of the Loewe pack) and the Aries back design.

Deck designed by J. L. Picardo for Aries, 1979

Above: deck designed by J. L. Picardo manufactured by Heraclio Fournier for Aries, 1979. Image courtesy Roddy Somerville.

CREDITS & REFERENCES

García Martín, Enrique: La Baraja Francesa de figuras dobles de Heraclio Fournier, La Sota Nº 29, 2003

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

Member since January 30, 2009

View Articles Contact Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.

His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.

Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.

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The Aries Edition - by Roddy Somerville

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