Karl Gerich No.1
The first entry in the catalogue, dating from c.1982, shows full-length figures with their symbols of office (mace, orb, halberd, sword, flower, etc.) after the early English style.
Karl Gerich No.1: ‘Early English Pattern’
Return to Gerich homepage ←
From the start Karl Gerich adopted the traditional craftsman's approach to the production of his playing-cards. This was to create a copper or steel plate etching, hand print from each plate and then to hand-colour the printed sheet. The first entry in the catalogue, dating from c.1982, shows full-length court figures with their symbols of office (mace, orb, halberd, sword, flower, etc.) after the early English style. The hand colouring is in reds, blues, pink, black and yellow which is an accurate representation of traditional single-ended playing cards produced in England since the seventeenth century and used until the middle of the nineteenth century.
Above: coloured proof sheet of Karl Gerich's ‘Early English Pattern’ playing cards No.1, signed and dated by the artist. It is difficult to know exactly how many of each pack Karl produced, together with proof sheets and variants, but around five 52-card packs were made with stencilled and unvarnished pips, plus a number of uncut sheets. Cards measure 79mm x 45mm.
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 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
Mini One Deck
One small pack for playing card games, chess, checkers, domino games, dice games, and for use as pok...
Catch the Kaiser
Card game with non-standard suits, featuring British military leaders from WWI plus the Kaiser.
Happy Families
A cautionary tale...
Quaterne
A Victorian quartet-style children’s card game by Goodall & Son.
The Molassine Company and its link to Whist and Bridge
A savvy marketing strategy blending Victorian decorative design with Edwardian practicality.
Waddington’s faux books
Waddington’s faux book set containing four packs of playing cards and bridge markers.
Patience by Joseph Glanz
A refined and distinctly European Patience pack by Joseph Glanz from Austria.
Double Dummy Bridge
In the early 20th century several firms began to promote whist or bridge as a game for two.
Ogdens Beauties & Military cigarette cards
Cigarette cards featuring beauties and military uniforms with playing-card insets.
Boddingtons Bitter playing cards
Cool-looking courts advertising Boddingtons Bitter, originally brewed in Manchester.
OXO Faces of the Millennium Dinner
Twentieth-century personalities promoting a millennium dinner at the Oxo Tower in London.
Modern Swiss-German Pattern (carta.media)
Modernizing tradition: balancing clarity and continuity in regional card design.
Kids Fun Box playing cards
Colourful cards for children with four non-standard suits connected with the natural world.
Tangle Foot Ale
Badger Brewery Tangle Foot strong ale advertising pack.
Tactics Design
Late modernist Japanese playing cards designed by Masayoshi Nakajo for Tactics Design.
Scientific Whist
“Scientific Whist” : standard cards with instructions for play on the faces by Chas Goodall & Son, 1...
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days
