So I had to make a last minute decision about which deck to show here now. One name kept popping up, as it has done since I left Vienna. But first I'll have to explain how I have been selling the collection ever since I was faced with a life shortening medical condition in August 2021. I decided to sell it "top down", which meant finding a good home for the antique or special vintage decks first. Fortunately a lot of serious collectors found the decks that they wanted and now some 90% of those decks have been sold. That means that the Bargains section will slowly show more modern and special decks too. 
For the trading sessions at the joined IPCS/BDK/Talon convention in Vienna last month I had brought along a variety of antique, vintage and modern decks. Among them were the 8 decks by this modern artist. I hadn't expected to sell any of them there, but to my surprise one collector showed interest and bought 3 of them. Although the decision to sell them had been made, I unexpectedly felt a faint regret when I handed them over. 

So who is this artist, whose name kept popping up? Some of you may have recognized her style in the above royal head, but for those who are new to her work, it's Elaine M. Lewis. To show how much we appreciated her work we already showed a deck as one of the first in the Art & Cards section (now to be found in the Archives there) and I've already shown one of her decks on this spot in September 2020.

It's one of the about 70 decks that Elaine M. Lewis from Bradford (UK) has produced and when I say produced it means that she has designed and hand coloured each card in her decks. With this production method it's understandable that each deck was published in a very limited edition, sometimes only 15 copies were made. She produced her first deck, "Citicards", in 1990 and this is her transformation deck "Once upon a Time" from 2020. Only 50 numbered decks were made. This deck has # 21. In her decks the designs of the court cards are mostly based on the English or International pattern.

As the title suggests, this deck is all about fairy tales. On the aces and other pip cards they are named, on the courts there's a textual reference. The courts have a mixture of true double-imaged and a double-image with differences. The KS, JS, QC, KD and QD have a true double-image and on the other courts there are different images on either side. On those courts, except for the JC, the texts are also different on each side.

Well, I hope you'll appreciate the style and humour in these designs as much as we did.

Click each ace to see the pip cards of that suit.

The deck consists of 52 cards, 1 joker and 1 title card. The backs have a glittering pink finish, just like the box.

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