Karl Gerich
Karl Gerich's interest in playing-card production came to the fore while studying at Bath Academy of Art from 1975. Karl produced a unique range of hand-made playing cards during the period 1980-1998.
The Playing Cards of Karl Gerich (1956-2016)
Karl Alexander Gerich's interest in playing-card production came to the fore while studying at Bath Academy of Art from 1975. Karl produced a unique range of hand-made playing cards during the period 1980-1998. His designs were inspired by early traditional playing cards, the English pattern and other European designs, packs produced by 19th century European manufacturers (B. Dondorf, Glanz, van Genechten, VSS, Grimaud, Piatnik, etc), resurrected once more by Karl's burin and given a new lease of life. He produced mainly French-suited packs with 32 or 52 cards, and his packs often included exotic pictorial Aces and special Jokers.
- No.1 "Early English pattern", 1982
- No.2 "Hall of Mirrors", 1982
- No.3 "Four Elements", 1983
- No.4 "XP8 Patience", 1981
- No.5 "Standard English Pattern", 1984
- No.6 "Austrian", 1982
- No.7 "Gerich", 1984
- No.8 "Cartes Turques", 1985
- No.9 "Deutche Karten", 1982, 1990
- No.10 "Four Corners", 1984-1991
- No.11 never completed
- No.12 "Rheinland", 1991
- No.13 "Milanesi", 1997
- No.14 "Rouennais"
- No.15 "Trappola Française", 1985, 1990
- No.16 "Patience Indien", 1991
- No.17 "Curieuse", 1987
- No.18 "Cartes Turques Patience", 1991
- No.19 not published
- No.20 "Rouennais A", 1990
- No.21 "Patience", c.1991
- No.22 "Rouennais", 1990-91
- No.23 "Beautiful Bath", 1996
- No.24 "Polonaise", 1988
- No.25 "Great Mogul", 1987
- No.26 "King Harry", 1991
- No.27 "Nibelungenkarten", 1989, 1994
- No.28 "Mayday", 1989
- No.29 "Victoria Playing Cards", 1988
- No.30 "Merry Andrew", 1989
- No.31 "Bongoût/Triton", 1989
- No.32 "Aquae Sulis", 1990
- No.33 "Views of Bath", 1992
- No.34 "Lettische Patience", 1994
- No.35 "Ganesh", 1992
- No.36 "Cosi Fan Tutte", 1994
- No.37 "EPCS Transformation Pack", 1993

Acknowledgement: thanks are due to Daphne and Mike Tregear who were close friends with Karl and supported him in many of his productions. Donald Welsh was also a close friend and patron of Karl's work. Much of the background information has been sourced from them. Barney Townshend has also kindly contributed images of most of Karl's work in the form of finished packs, proof sheets and hand-made boxes.


Packs were usually numbered somewhere on the Joker, a court card or the box, and the numbering system has been worked out from there, with corrections by Karl. Some packs were untitled / unnumbered*.
* Note: Regarding the numbers and titles of packs, some projects were started one year but not published till several years later. Karl rarely produced all of one work in the same year, but went back to finish a project at a later date, so signed dates on individual decks issued can vary.
Karl worked from his sunny studio flat in St Peter's Terrace, Bath (UK) where he had his own Adana printing press. All his packs were produced from steel or copper plate etchings and hand coloured by himself or his partner Georgina Harvey. They traded as "Victoria Playing Card Co." between 1 May 1989 - 17 December 1990, otherwise Karl traded as himself.
By looking at Gerich’s patterns and designs, like music or poetry, they show where the artist finds beauty… In general Gerich leans towards humanity in his designs, with excellent characterisation to his subjects. He reveals a feeling for natural beauty and artistic rhythmical movement. But the strangest other-worldly creatures also intrude, suggesting the supernatural. We see chimera monsters, mermaids and satyrs, phoenixes, playful lovers and cupids, sea dragons and serpents, the mystique of orientalism, tricksters and jesters... The romance of distant lands finds expression in the exotic blend of Turkish and Hindu fantasies (Patience Indien No.16, Cartes Turques No.18, Ganesh No.35), whilst the theme of sea-borne trade and adventure is again carried further (Four Corners No.10, Milanesi No.13 and Triton No.31). Roman mythology is apparent in the Beautiful Bath No.23 and Aquae Sulis No.32 packs, whilst slightly grotesque gothicism characterises his Four Elements No.3 and Deutche Karten No.9. The opera is the subject of a further two packs (Siegfried No.27, Cosi Fan Tutte).

References:
♠ Tregear, Mike and Daphne, "Karl Gerich: Card Designer and Maker", privately published.
Copyright:
Copyright for all images remains the property of the Artist.

By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
I am the founder of The World of Playing Cards (est. 1996), a website dedicated to the history, artistry and cultural significance of playing cards and tarot. Over the years I have researched various areas of the subject, acquired and traded collections and contributed as a committee member of the IPCS and graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal. Having lived in Chile, England, Wales, and now Spain, these experiences have shaped my work and passion for playing cards. Amongst my achievements is producing a limited-edition replica of a 17th-century English pack using woodblocks and stencils—a labour of love. Today, the World of Playing Cards is a global collaborative project, with my son Adam serving as the technical driving force behind its development. His innovative efforts have helped shape the site into the thriving hub it is today. You are warmly invited to become a contributor and share your enthusiasm.
Related Articles

Songs with Flute accompaniment
Eighteenth century English engraved cards with music for voice and flute.

Love Tests
Vintage novelty “Love Test” cards of a slightly saucy nature but all in good fun!

Never Mind the Belote
Limited edition Belote pack with designs by a collective of 24 street artists.

Ben 10 playing cards
Characters from the American animated television science fantasy series Ben 10.

Playing card designs by Franz Exler
Reconstruction of playing cards from the original 1903 designs.

MITSCHKAtzen
Clever cat designs by the Austrian artist and illustrator Willi Mitschka.

22 Pittori in 22 Arcani
Collaborative Tarot with contributions from 22 different Italian artists including Menegazzi and Tav...

Doctor Who Trump Card Game
Game for two players in which Doctor Who and the Legendary Legion join battle with the Alien Hordes....

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

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

Disney’s Aladdin playing cards
Characters from the 1992 Disney film Aladdin.

2011 Worshipful Company Pack
Celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens, with characters adapted from drawings b...

Jockey Club de Buenos Aires
Spanish-suited pack by Chas Goodall & Son Ltd for the Jockey Club, Buenos Aires.

New interest in old games
Games once fashionable are now eclipsed by quicker gratifications.

Polygo™
Cards of irregular, four-sided shape for playing word and colour games as well as more traditional o...

Treasures from the Bodleian Library
Rare books, manuscripts, music scores, portraits, maps, gospels, chronicles and other valuable artef...
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days