Karl Gerich no.23: “Beautiful Bath”

Published July 07, 2013 Updated November 07, 2023

Beautiful Bath is a hand-made pack by Karl Gerich which was published in 1996.

1996 United Kingdom Gerich Karl Karl Gerich Bath Souvenir
box from Karl Gerich no.23: Beautiful Bath

Beautiful Bath is a 52-card pack which was published in 1996 in an edition of about 30 packs, some with a joker and others not. Each card depictss some part of the story of the city of Bath.

The French-suited pip cards have been treated like German-suited cards in that the pips are placed in the upper two thirds of the card with the lower third being used to illustrate some feature of Bath. Gerich has been systematic in his approach in that the diamonds show churches and chapels, the clubs parks and open spaces, the spades building and streets while the hearts show bridges and water features. The court cards show three-quarter length portraits of people, whether real or mythical, who have featured in Bath's history.

All of the cards have been etched and delicately hand-painted. The backs are decorated with Florentine patterned paper. Each card measures 60mm x 93 mm. The pack was offered in two variations with different thicknesses of paper and different styles of box.

Below: slideshow showing six hand-coloured uncut sheets of Karl Gerich’s Beautiful Bath playing cards no.23, 1996. The pip cards show scenes from Bath whilst courts show personalities associated with Bath.

slide 3 to 4 of 6

Below: the 12 court cards click image to zoom.

Karl Gerich's Beautiful Bath playing cards no.23, 1996

Notes and References:

The pack was reprinted in 2019 to mark the 35th anniversary of the EPCS. Limited edition of 150 packs - 52 cards plus joker and a self-assemble wooden Bath Georgian House card box (front door number 11, in recognition of the late Donald Welsh who lived at number 11). The box was designed and produced by Robert Kann and the whole project managed by Barney Townshend.

♠ Tregear, Mike and Daphne, "Karl Gerich: Card Designer and Maker", privately published.

Copyright:

Copyright for all images remains the property of the Artist.

avatar
131 Articles

By Barney Townshend

Member since October 06, 2015

Retired Airline Pilot, interested in: Transformation Playing Cards, Karl Gerich and Elaine Lewis. Secretary of the EPCS. Treasurer of the IPCS.

Related Articles

2025 Baraja de Juan Martín Zamorano

Baraja de Juan Martín Zamorano

Deck inspired by El Pendón de los Zamorano, a military pennant dating from 1501, published by Priego...

1992 Disney’s Aladdin playing cards

Disney’s Aladdin playing cards

Characters from the 1992 Disney film Aladdin.

2011 2011 Worshipful Company Pack

2011 Worshipful Company Pack

Celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens, with characters adapted from drawings b...

1926 Jockey Club de Buenos Aires

Jockey Club de Buenos Aires

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

New interest in old games

New interest in old games

Games once fashionable are now eclipsed by quicker gratifications.

1999 Polygo™

Polygo™

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

1995 Treasures from the Bodleian Library

Treasures from the Bodleian Library

Rare books, manuscripts, music scores, portraits, maps, gospels, chronicles and other valuable artef...

1863 Victorian grocer’s scale plate

Victorian grocer’s scale plate

Large flat plate decorated with highly coloured English cards and royal arms.

2024 Queen of Arts

Queen of Arts

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

1990 The Glasgow Pack

The Glasgow Pack

Issued to celebrate Glasgow’s reign as European City of Culture in 1990, with city views and works o...

2018 Cathedrals, Abbeys & Minsters playing cards

Cathedrals, Abbeys & Minsters playing cards

54 pictures of different famous cathedrals, abbeys and minsters in England and Wales.

1979 Baraja Turística del País Vasco

Baraja Turística del País Vasco

Basque poker deck of 55 cards published by Fournier with scenic views of the Basque Country.

2018 Christmas Carols

Christmas Carols

Christmas Carols playing cards illustrated by Stuart Dilks

1798 Pam is the Knave of Clubs

Pam is the Knave of Clubs

Playing cards as metaphors in 18th century art - from fate, chance and social hierarchy t...

1920 Question and Answer Games

Question and Answer Games

A card game called “Impertinent Questions and Pertinent Answers” was launched in the early 1920s by ...

1711 Dr Sacheverell

Dr Sacheverell

Dr. Henry Sacheverell's impeachment in 1710 sparked widespread public unrest and political upheaval,...