A pair of scarce Italian playing cards depicting Ireland

Anonymous.

X Irlanda. [&] Isole III. Irlanda.
Bologna: Tipografia de' Franceschi alla Colomba?, c.1790. Two playing cards, one engraved, one woodcut and letterpress, each sheet 115 x 60mm, with red woodcut design on reverse.

Slightly trimmed, as issued.

Two playing cards representing Ireland, including a miniature map of the country on a tromp l'oeil scroll and a letterpress card with a woodcut armorial and a letterpress description.
They are from a 78-card geographical game pack which was played with the same rules as tarocchi (tarot). The map was one of the 21 map trump cards; the second was a court card from the suit 'Islands' (the other suits being 'North', 'South' & 'Central' Europe). The woodcut pattern on the back of the card is a red flower design with the address 'Alla Colomba' (At the Dove). This was the address of Tipografia de' Franceschi in Bologna from the 1790s until at least 1860.


Stock ID : 24236