THE ORIGINAL
Cartes de Luxe Nr. 1, Société Anonyme Leonard Biermans, Turnhout, Belgium - c1877.
This deck had been on our wish list for years. It was printed in chromolithography. The abundant use of colour, the rounded, gilded corners and the quality of card definitely make it the luxury deck that the title suggests. The Nr. 1 would suggest that this is the first luxury deck, produced by Biermans, but one can never be sure about the sequence of the factory numbers. The name of the maker is on the Queen of Spades and on the Jack of Hearts the word "déposé" is printed. This means that the designs had been deposited, which was a sort of legal guarantee against copying.
The suit symbols of the Spades and Clubs have been embellished a bit, the Hearts and Diamonds have the usual symbols. In the design of the backs the initials of the manufacturer have been put on the bow of the boat.
