January 2022

 

The new Deck of the Month had to come from the present collection, so there was an overwhelming choice.
However, a post in the Joker Collectors group on Facebook reminded me of this deck.

 

It's a modern designed deck, but a vintage one as it was published by Loewe in 1959. The Loewe company is now known for their fashion accessories like bags, shoes, clothing and perfumes. I wasn't familiar with the name, but some research told me that the company was founded in 1846 by a group of Spanish leather craftsmen. When Enrique Loewe y Roessberg joined them in 1876 they got their brand name. In 1905 the king gave them the title of Purveyor to the Royal Court. In the 1970's the company expanded into perfumes and fashion, with designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani. Nowadays the Loewe shops can be found all over the world, even Amsterdam seems to have one.
The deck (with gilded corners) was printed by Heraclio Fournier from Vitoria, Spain.

The name of the artist can be found on the King of Spades: J.L. Picardo. His designs are based on a combination of shapes in which the square ones seem to prevail. The kings all have a beard, the queens a flower and the jacks a shield. I found these shields interesting, as they seem to refer to existing states. The double headed eagle is still used by many countries as a national emblem, but somehow Russia springs to mind here. The "Fleur de Lis" in the clubs suit can be linked to France and the pattern on the shield in the diamonds suit looks like the Bavarian emblematic pattern, although that is in different colours. I can't figure out the peacock in the hearts suit though.

 

ENJOY!

 


 The Aces are plain. On the Ace of Spades the name of the publisher (Loewe) and year of publication (1959) are printed.


 

The deck consists of 52 cards and 2 identical jokers.
There's a Spanish tax stamp on the 4 of Clubs.

 

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