DECK OF THE MONTH

Just like the "Joker of the Month" in the Jokers section we will select a "Deck of the Month" from all the decks that we could add to our collection during that month. It will be what we consider our best find. We've started this section in April 2007 and without any doubt we can say here that over the years there will be antique, vintage and modern decks shown on these pages. Age, design and value of the chosen decks may be very different each time.

I've shown a deck, made by this artist, before as Deck of the Month August 2021.

This deck came from the Dudley Ollis collection, but it raised questions here.

And the blank center of the card on the box is illustrative for this issue.

The deck was designed, engraved and hand coloured by the British artist Karl Gerich (1956-2016). He handled the complete process. I have never met him, but apparently we shared an appreciation for the printing technique of the Dondorf company. According to the WOPC site this deck is known as "No. 10 - Four Corners" and it was first published in 1984. The deck was inspired by the Hausmann deck by Dondorf from c1858, also known as "Four Continents" or "Luxury Playing Cards Four Parts (Corners) of the Earth". Because there is no title card in the deck, nor on the box, I wondered where the name came from. I asked Barney Townshend, among others a collector of Gerich's decks, about it and it seems that it was named as such by a collector, who was a good friend of Karl for years and must have heard him refer to the deck as Four Corners, because of the Dondorf connection. And it was indeed the 10th deck that Karl Gerich had produced.
That answered my question, but Barney also told me about the chaotic way in which Karl produced his total of 35 decks. It seems that Karl produced as many decks as there was demand at that time and then went on to work on a next deck. When a certain deck was later in demand again, he produced it again. This would explain why one of the extra cards in my deck carries a date in 1990, six years after the first release. It is estimated than no more than 50 decks were made in total. That answered my last question, so back to the deck again.

The first edition by Dondorf was somewhat smaller than all the later editions of the Hausmann deck and this edition was done in etching instead of chromolithography. It may have inspired the engraver Karl Gerich to make his deck somewhat smaller too: 43 x 76 mm. Hence the scanned cards here at 150%.
But the artist in Karl Gerich also decided to give his deck a special twist. Although the original Hausmann deck was a single imaged deck, even on the pips, Karl changed it into a double imaged deck. But did he?

The designs appear to show a double image, but they were drawn as one image. There are many differences between both sides to be found in the details. Apparently Karl Gerich wasn't very good in drawing hands, but besides that and numerous other very small details he also changed other, more apparent, details deliberately. It was fun to find those differences on each card. Most are easy to spot, a few more difficult. I'll give you the ones in the two suits here below, but you'll have to find the differences in the clubs and diamonds yourself. Have fun!

Most obvious in the Clubs: King has different crowns, Queen a different bracelet and the Jack different leaves (?) on his chest. In the Hearts suit the King also has a different crown, the Queen a different bird and the Jack a differently folded turban.
	AFRICA



	ASIA

The aces are definitely inspired by those in the Hausmann deck, but here too they were presented as a double image. Still, Gerich addresses the continents with the same typical images for each suit that Hausmann used: a camel (Africa), an elephant (Asia), a boat (America) and justice (Europe). And here too Gerich makes sure that there are easy to spot differences between each side of the card. Most obvious and rather funny is the sloop that went under on the AC. However, maybe they didn't go at all because it was a different ship than the one, towards they were originally rowing.

That each deck was hand painted becomes apparent, when you compare this set of aces with the one that Barney shows on the WOPC site. Click HERE to see both sets. See how the colouring affects the scene, but also note that in Barney's deck the diamond suit is in orange instead of red. Furthermore it seems that Karl didn't keep his plates in a neat way. There are scratches and smudges noticeable in the designs here above. These exact same scratches and smudges appear on Barney's set. I wonder if they would also be found on decks from the very first edition in 1984.

Joker		Signed and dated extra card

More decks by Karl Gerich are shown on the WOPC site		Karl Gerich and his partner Georgina Harvey used the name Victoria Playing Card Company between May 1989 and December 1990.
	Note there's no title on box or extra card.

	AMERICA



	EUROPE