Playing cards probably originated in China or Hindustan around AD 800. Some
early decks had symbols resembling Chinese markings and may have been taken back to
Europe by Venetian explorers, in the later half of the 13th century. Early Chinese cards
used suits of coins, strings of coins, myriads, and tens of myriads...resembling the values
of Chinese paper money. Cards first appeared in Italy by the late 1200s and spread to
Germany, France, and Spain. The first recorded evidence of the use of playing cards
appear in Italy in 1299; Spain in 1371, and Germany in 1380. The TAROT were the first
cards to appear in the New World. Today's standard 52 card French deck evolved from
the Tarot or tarocchi ("tablets of fate"). The earliest being the rare tarocchi di
Mantegna, engraved in 1470.
From the tarots of Mantegna evolved the 78 card Venetian
tarots, consisting of 4 suits of 14 cards each. Each suit had 4 court cards
(king/queen/cavalier/valet) and 10 numeric cards bearing swords, cups, money, and
batons. These reflected medieval society and represented the following:
They were produced by
hand-colored woodcuts, a form used by German "Kartenmachers" (card makers) and
later engravings by the 15th century. Color production known as lithography was used in
the 1800s.
As their popularity spread across Europe, suit-symbols gradually began to more
closely resemble today's modern playing card. The French had the greatest influence on
the creation of the modern deck. The Tarot cups became couer or "Hearts", swords
became pique or "Spades", pentacles became carreau or "Diamonds", and batons
became trefle or "Clubs." They eliminated the major arcana and combined the knight
and page, reducing the deck to 52 cards and simplifying the suit symbols to red hearts &
diamonds; black spades & trefoils (clover leaves). These changes allowed easier printing
and lowered their cost. However, in Germany, "Hearts, Leaves, Acorns, and Bells (or
Hawks)" illustrated the four suits. The first known German cards of Stuttgart (1440)
were a hunting series with suits consisting of dogs, stags, ducks, and falcons. The French
were also began to identify the court cards:
La Hire
Rachael HectorArtists altered the court cards to resemble the nobility of the day. During the reign of Henry III of France, costumes reflected the extravagant fashions of the era. However, during the French Revolution, the playing card "royal family" was banished from the pack, replaced by philosophers and other important people. But by 1813, the royalty had reappeared in the deck for good. Designs remained unchanged until the mid- 19th century. Double-headed court cards appeared in 1827 and corner indices were innovations of the 1800s. The backs of playing cards were plain until the 1850s, when the English artist Owen Jones, artist for Thomas de la Rue, London card makers, began designing cards with ornate backs. Complex designs then became the norm. The first "Joker" appeared in an 1865 American deck.
