Carte Tedesche Reproduction

A facsimile deck produced by Il Meneghello of Milan from the uncoloured original owned by Osvaldo Menegazzi in Italy. Though national suits were eventually developed German card makers were extremely inventive with their suit signs. Packs of cards used flowers, combs, fishes, crowns, bellows, frying pans, shields, knives, and the four suits of this deck: Books, Printer\'s Ink Pads, Wine Pots and Cups. This 52-card deck is one of the most significant works of Jost Amman, one of the more prolific wood cut artists of the German Renaissance. The courts are Kings on horseback, and the usual German Ober and Unter. On the 10s are women, perhaps borrowing from the 10s of Spanish packs which are sometimes female figures. The pips feature many illustrations of everyday life as associated with the suit of the card they are on. Placing detailed little pictures on the pip cards was common in German decks, often with a plant rising up in the background of the scene with the pips attached to it as though they were leaves or fruit of the plant. The cards are protected by the usual hand-made Meneghello book cover that ties with a ribbon at one side and has an inner card wrap. Card dimensions are true to the originals at: 6.8 cm x 10.9 cm.