Jorg Schwemer style German playing cards
From two uncolored sheets with the name Jorg Schwemer. One with cards 2-9 for four suits, the other is courts and banner tens in duplicate. Munich, dated about 1520.
Card size is 75mm x 50mm.
Player’s note: Banner tens in this pack have no X.
Jorg’s cards have a bold style to them, and can be easily connected to related modern patters.
Munchen karten, 1520. Aces are anachronistic elements.
Kartenmacher Schwemer’s designs are plain and mechanical compared to some other German packs of the time. The lack of embellishment is not without reward, as they are rather easy to read. Jorg may have been inspired by the sparsely embellished simplicity of French suited patterns.
Even though this is the third German suited/fourth German courted (Vaduz) pack I have worked on, I am finding it tricky to perceive their relations with clarity. On the other hand, this pack in particular illustrates relations with other patterns.
On a production note, the printing machines at the nearby shop that I use in my production have been replaced, and I was forced to produce the prototypes on sub par paper (notice warping of court sheet). A quest for alternatives begins before the next pack does.
similar fragments here
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=1613050767&objectId=3357596&partId=1#more-views
