Scholars don’t all agree on quite when they were made, although most opinions I have encountered believe the costume suggests around 1470. They were discovered in the 1860s, when they were likely attributed to Liechtenstein.
These cards, along with a few other early fragments, exhibit a few very curious traits. They feature German courts (king, ober, unter), but the suits are latin. Like the earlier Morisca cards, there seems to be a transitional suit of clubs. A shillelagh, a pilgrim staff, or perhaps an adze?
There is also a fifth suit of Schilten, a suit found in Swiss packs. Could this be a parent pattern?
Although no queens were found, the pack does feature women. The Unter of coins wears her hair short, but has a long, flowing frock. The Unter of sticks, on the other hand, is naked and straddling her suit sign.
Although the print is smudged (they were rejects recycled into a fifteenth century manuscript cover) it is still quite expressive. As I flesh them out I’m reaching for the same brushes and pens as I did for the Morisca cards, and they feel like there is a relation. They certainly feel like a natural evolutionary fit, and I’m thinking they may be finger-painted.
The pack is quite large at 57 x 89mm; combined with a fifth suit, and the possibility that it also included a fourth or even fifth court ( queens and knights) means this pack was a lot of paper.
I printed up a few to see what they look like in the hand.
They’re chunky!
These are currently available in bridge size.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b105102791.r=jeu%20de%20cartes%20ancien?rk=20901390;4
They are called Liechtenstein cards because of the surname of their previous owner. They have nothing to do with the principality or the city of Vaduz. See Dummett’s Game of Tarot, page 15.
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Thank you for your interest, I select names for marketing purposes, and the data that the pack comes with points this out:)
Hi, I’m Heather, and it’s nice to meet you.
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