Kartenbilder
The card pattern (Kartenbild) is the standardised appearance of a pack of cards — and often the only way to place a pack without a maker's name in space and time. Few areas of playing-card research are as well described and, at the same time, as contested: some names come from the trade, the boundaries from different schools of thought, and every system has to choose between them. This page sets out how we handle it: what we mean by a card pattern, and how we name, order and evidence card patterns.
Our starting point is the Pattern Sheets of the International Playing-Card Society (IPCS). Since the 1970s the Society has used them to describe the standard patterns of Europe, each with its history, composition and makers, usually also with a recommended name. We follow this system: where a Pattern Sheet describes a card pattern, our entry carries its number, and where the Pattern Sheets list a type as its own card pattern under a broader heading, so do we. For individual regions we go deeper with the specialist literature — for the Bavarian-Austrian area chiefly with Manfred Hausler and Peter Blaas.
List of card patterns
The initial order follows suit system and pattern family; clicking a column header re-sorts the table.
| Pattern | Suit system | Belongs to | IPCS | Date of origin | in use until | Origin | Figure type | Packs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augsburg pattern (Q1346) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | um 1450 | um 1700 | Augsburg | 0 | ||
| Old Bavarian pattern (Q911) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | 53 | 1854 | Electorate of Bavaria | single-figure | 7 | |
| Early Old-Bavarian pattern (Q1347) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | um 1650 | 0 | ||||
| Late Old-Bavarian pattern (Q1348) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | 53 | um 1750 | 2 | |||
| Bavarian pattern (Q912) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | um 1810 | still in use | Munich | single-figure, double-ended | 8 | |
| Classic Bavaria pattern (Q3578) also: Klassisches Bayerisches Bild |
German-suited | type of Bavarian pattern | 54 | single-figure, double-ended | 1 | |||
| Bavarian pattern (Stralsund) (Q1350) also: Spätes Bayerisches Bild; Bayerisches Bild Typ Stralsund |
German-suited | type of Bavarian pattern Bavarian pattern family |
55 | um 1885 | Stralsund | double-ended, single-figure | 2 | |
| Bavarian Isarkreis pattern (Q1349) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | 99 | um 1820 | single-figure | 2 | ||
| Salzburg pattern (Q1351) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | 56 | 1850 | still in use | Salzburg | single-figure | 4 |
| Bavarian pattern (Tyrol) (Q1352) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | um 1860 | Innsbruck | 0 | |||
| Tyrol pattern (Q12387) also: Tirolerbild |
German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | 1790 | um 1895 | Innsbruck | 0 | ||
| Early Tyrol pattern (Q1353) also: Frühes Tiroler Bild |
German-suited | type of Tyrol pattern Bavarian pattern family |
45 | um 1790 | Innsbruck | single-figure | 1 | |
| Later Tyrol pattern (Q1354) | German-suited | type of Tyrol pattern Bavarian pattern family |
46 | um 1850 | Princely County of Tyrol | 0 | ||
| Regensburg pattern (Q1355) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | 70 | um 1730 | um 1875 | Regensburg | single-figure | 11 |
| Bohemian pattern (Q1356) also: Prager Bild |
German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | 1800 | still in use | Kingdom of Bohemia | double-ended, single-figure | 3 | |
| Nuremberg eagle pattern (Q1357) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | 84 | um 1800 | 1871 | Nuremberg | 1 | |
| Franconian pattern (Q1358) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | 83 | um 1840 | still in use | Würzburg | double-ended, single-figure | 20 |
| Old-Bavarian pattern (Poland) (Q1359) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | um 1790 | 0 | ||||
| Old-Bavarian pattern (Russia) (Q12908) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | um 1840 | 1 | ||||
| Bavarian-Swabian pattern (Q1360) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | 86 | um 1850 | Augsburg | 0 | ||
| Bavarian soldier pattern (Q1361) | German-suited | Bavarian pattern family | 79 | um 1830 | Munich | 2 | ||
| Ansbach pattern (Q1362) also: Nürnberger Bild |
German-suited | um 1600 | um 1960 | 1 | ||||
| Brno pattern (Q1365) | German-suited | um 1885 | single-figure | 1 | ||||
| DDR pattern New Altenburg I (Q3604) also: DDR-Bild I; DDR-Bild Neu-Altenburger Bild I |
German-suited | 1 | ||||||
| DDR pattern New Altenburg II (Q3572) also: DDR Bild Neues Altenburger Bild II; DDR-Bild II; DDR-Bild Neues Altenburger Bild II |
German-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| DDR pattern New Altenburg III (Q12907) | German-suited | 1 | ||||||
| Early Ansbach or Nurnberg pattern (Q3574) also: Frühes Ansbacher oder Nürnberger Bild |
German-suited | type of Ansbach pattern | 87 | single-figure | 3 | |||
| Hungarian pattern (Q3644) | German-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Later Ansbach or Nürnberg pattern (Q3638) also: Späteres Ansbacher oder Nürnberger Bild |
German-suited | type of Ansbach pattern | 88 | single-figure | 1 | |||
| Linz or Raddreher pattern (Q3619) also: Linzer oder »Raddreher«-Bild; Linzer oder Raddreher-Bild; Raddreher-Bild; Linzer Bild oder Raddreherkarte; Raddreherkarte |
German-suited | 95 | single-figure | 1 | ||||
| Lviv pattern (Q1366) also: Mohren Deutsche Karte; Polnische Nationalkarte |
German-suited | still in use | single-figure | 2 | ||||
| Prager Doppel-Deutsche pattern (Q3630) | German-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Prussia I pattern (Q3631) | German-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Prussia II pattern (Q3632) | German-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Prussia pattern (Q3633) | German-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Saxon pattern (Q1364) | German-suited | 52 | 1 | |||||
| Saxon pattern I (Q3920) also: Altenburger Schwerterkarte; Sächsische Schwerterkarte I; Saxon I |
German-suited | type of Saxon pattern | single-figure | 1 | ||||
| Saxon pattern II (Q3921) also: Chemnitzer Schwerterkarte; Sächsische Schwerterkarte II; Saxon II |
German-suited | type of Saxon pattern | double-ended, single-figure | 2 | ||||
| Sopron (Ödenburg) pattern (Q3637) | German-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| South German or Swabia pattern (Q3640) also: Süddeutsches oder schwäbisches Bild |
German-suited | 104 | single-figure | 1 | ||||
| Wallerstein pattern (Q1363) | German-suited | um 1830 | Wallerstein | 1 | ||||
| Württemberg pattern (Q1375) also: Württembergisch-Pfälzisches Bild |
German-suited | 98 | 1867 | double-ended | 1 | |||
| old Paris pattern (Q1368) also: Pariser Bild |
French-suited | Paris pattern family | single-figure | 23 | ||||
| Belgian pattern (Q3561) | French-suited | Paris pattern family | double-ended | 3 | ||||
| North-West German or Baltic pattern (Q3626) | French-suited | Paris pattern family | double-ended | 1 | ||||
| Swedish pattern (Q3587) | French-suited | Paris pattern family | double-ended | 2 | ||||
| Russian pattern (Q3636) | French-suited | Paris pattern family | double-ended | 1 | ||||
| Hamburg pattern (Q3576) | French-suited | Paris pattern family | 58, F-1.51, XP7 | double-ended | 2 | |||
| Bavaria pattern (Q3648) also: Bayerisches Bild (französisch) |
French-suited | Paris pattern family | 1 | |||||
| International pattern (Q1369) also: Internationales Bild |
French-suited | Paris pattern family | 64, F-1.41, XP6 | double-ended | 4 | |||
| Old Swiss pattern (Q3592) | French-suited | Paris pattern family | single-figure | 1 | ||||
| Modern Swiss pattern (Q3624) also: Französische Jasskarten |
French-suited | Paris pattern family | 60, F-1.512, XP11 | double-ended | 1 | |||
| Genoa pattern (Q3614) also: Genueser Bild |
French-suited | Paris pattern family | 80 | double-ended | 1 | |||
| Early Netherland pattern (Q3610) | French-suited | Paris pattern family | double-ended | 1 | ||||
| Later Netherland pattern (Q3639) | French-suited | Paris pattern family | 75, F-1.533, XP2 | double-ended | 1 | |||
| Modern Netherland pattern (Q3622) also: Niederländisches Bild |
French-suited | Paris pattern family | 76, F-1.5331, XP2 | double-ended | 1 | |||
| Frankfurt pattern (Q3573) | French-suited | Paris pattern family | double-ended | 2 | ||||
| Belgian Animal Tarot (Q25446) | French-suited | Lyon I pattern family | 9 | 1 | ||||
| Fribourg pattern (Q25445) also: Portrait de Fribourg |
French-suited | Lyon I pattern family | 1 | |||||
| Lyon pattern (Q1374) also: Lyoner Exportbild |
French-suited | Lyon I pattern family | 62 | um 1780 | single-figure, double-ended | 38 | ||
| Neuchâtel pattern (Q25444) also: Portrait de Neuchâtel |
French-suited | Lyon I pattern family | 0 | |||||
| Vienna pattern (Q910) also: Österreichisches Bild |
French-suited | Lyon I pattern family | 19. Jh. | single-figure | 4 | |||
| Vienna pattern I (Q3591) | French-suited | type of Vienna pattern | double-ended | 1 | ||||
| Vienna pattern II (Q3646) also: Wiener Bild II Lyoner Bild I |
French-suited | type of Vienna pattern | double-ended | 1 | ||||
| Lombard pattern (Q3621) | French-suited | Lyon II/III pattern family | double-ended | 1 | ||||
| Lyon pattern II (Q3649) | French-suited | Lyon II/III pattern family | single-figure | 1 | ||||
| Lyon pattern III (Q3650) | French-suited | Lyon II/III pattern family | 1 | |||||
| Anglo-American pattern (Q3559) also: Englisches Bild |
French-suited | 48 | 19. Jh. | single-figure | 7 | |||
| Auvergne pattern (Q3596) | French-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Belgian Bongoût pattern (Q3597) | French-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Belgian Swiss pattern (Q3598) | French-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Berlin pattern (Q1367) also: Preußisches Bild |
French-suited | um 1830 | double-ended | 1 | ||||
| Brussels pattern (Q3602) | French-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Burgundy pattern (Q3603) | French-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Dauphiné pattern (Q3562) | French-suited | 63 | single-figure | 3 | ||||
| Florence I pattern (Q3606) | French-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Florence II pattern (Q3607) | French-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Florence III pattern (Q3608) | French-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| French National pattern (Q25351) also: Portrait Officiel |
French-suited | 1813 | 1 | |||||
| Geneva pattern (Q25362) | French-suited | 17. Jh. | 1945 | double-ended, single-figure | 9 | |||
| Guyenne (Bordeaux/Bearn) pattern (Q3615) | French-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Holmblad I pattern (Q3616) | French-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Holmblad II pattern (Q3617) | French-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Industrie und Glück (Q909) also: Tarock Industrie und Glück |
French-suited | double-ended | 3 | |||||
| Innsbruck tarot (Q25348) | French-suited | 0 | ||||||
| Languedoc pattern (Q3600) | French-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Lorraine pattern (Q3579) | French-suited | single-figure | 2 | |||||
| Modern Swedish pattern (Q3623) | French-suited | 103 | double-ended | 1 | ||||
| North German pattern (sword pattern) (Q1372) also: Schwerterbild |
French-suited | 59 | 18. Jh. | 0 | ||||
| Nuoro pattern (Q3627) | French-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Paris pattern early provincial type (Q26182) | French-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Paris pattern post 1778 (Q3584) | French-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Piedmont pattern (Q3629) | French-suited | 63 | double-ended | 1 | ||||
| Provence pattern (Q3634) | French-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Rhenish pattern (Q1373) also: Ein Dondorf’sches Firmen-Bild; Rheinland-Bild |
French-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Rouen I pattern (Q3566) also: Rouen-Bild I Lütticher Bergarbeiterkarten |
French-suited | 49 | single-figure, double-ended | 3 | ||||
| Rouen II pattern (Q3567) | French-suited | single-figure | 3 | |||||
| Small Tuscan pattern (Q3618) | French-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Tournament pattern (four-colour) (Q1371) also: Vierfarbenblatt |
French-suited | 2002 | 0 | |||||
| Turkish or Sultan pattern (Q3643) | French-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Wüst House pattern (Q3647) | French-suited | 100 | double-ended | 1 | ||||
| Belgian Bacchus tarot (Q1337) also: Flämisches Tarock; Vandenborre-Bacchus-Tarot |
Italian-suited | IT-3 | 0 | |||||
| Bergamo pattern (Q3599) | Italian-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| Bologna pattern (Q3570) | Italian-suited | single-figure, double-ended | 2 | |||||
| Brescia pattern (Q3601) | Italian-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Swiss 1JJ tarot (Q1342) | Italian-suited | IT-1.41 | 0 | |||||
| Tarocchino Bolognese (Q1339) also: Tarocco Bolognese |
Italian-suited | IT-2 | 0 | |||||
| Tarocco Piemontese (Q1338) | Italian-suited | IT-1.211 | 0 | |||||
| Tarot de Besançon (Q913) also: Besançon-Tarock |
Italian-suited | IT-1.4 | single-figure | 7 | ||||
| Tarot de Marseille (Q1336) | Italian-suited | IT-1 | um 1900 | 1 | ||||
| Trento pattern (Q3568) | Italian-suited | single-figure | 4 | |||||
| Trieste pattern (Q1376) | Italian-suited | um 1885 | double-ended | 3 | ||||
| Venice pattern (Q3569) also: Trevigiane; Trevisane |
Italian-suited | 35 | double-ended | 3 | ||||
| Aluette pattern I (Q3593) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Aluette pattern II (Q3594) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Cadiz pattern (Q3563) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 3 | |||||
| Castile pattern (Q3577) | Spanish-suited | single-figure, double-ended | 2 | |||||
| Early Sicily pattern (Q3575) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 2 | |||||
| French Catalan pattern (Q3609) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Garcia pattern (Q3613) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Llombart pattern (Q3620) | Spanish-suited | 44 | single-figure | 1 | ||||
| Maciá pattern (Q3580) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 2 | |||||
| Modern Piacenza pattern (Q3581) | Spanish-suited | single-figure, double-ended | 2 | |||||
| Modern Sicily pattern (Q3582) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 2 | |||||
| Modern Spanish Catalan pattern (Q3560) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 4 | |||||
| Naples pattern (Q3564) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 3 | |||||
| Parisian Spanish pattern (Q3628) | Spanish-suited | S-1.13 | single-figure | 1 | ||||
| Piacenza pattern (Q3585) also: Mittleres Piacentinisches Bild |
Spanish-suited | single-figure | 2 | |||||
| Romagna I pattern (Q3565) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 3 | |||||
| Romagna II pattern (Q3635) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Roxas/Sardinia pattern (Q3586) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 2 | |||||
| Spanish National pattern (Q3558) | Spanish-suited | S-1.1 | single-figure | 8 | ||||
| Toulouse / Gerona pattern (Q3641) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Turnhout/Spanish pattern (Q3642) | Spanish-suited | 39 | single-figure | 1 | ||||
| Viterbo pattern (Q3645) | Spanish-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Modern Swiss I pattern (Q3625) also: Deutsch-Schweizer Jasskarten; Deutschschweizer Bild |
Swiss-suited | double-ended | 1 | |||||
| National Swiss pattern (Q3583) | Swiss-suited | single-figure | 2 | |||||
| Archaic South Italian pattern (Q3595) | Portuguese-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Early Portuguese pattern (Q3611) | Portuguese-suited | single-figure | 1 | |||||
| Later Portuguese I pattern (Q3588) | Portuguese-suited | single-figure | 2 | |||||
| Later Portuguese II pattern (Q3589) | Portuguese-suited | single-figure | 2 | |||||
| Minchiate (Q1340) | Portuguese-suited | IPT-1 | 0 | |||||
| South Tyrol Hunting Tarot (Q25434) also: Südtiroler Jagd-Tarock |
0 | |||||||
| Tarocco Siciliano (Q1341) | IPT-2, IPT-2.1 | 0 | ||||||
| Tyrol Hunting Tarot, German style (Q25435) | type of South Tyrol Hunting Tarot | 0 | ||||||
| Tyrol Hunting Tarot, Italian style (Q25436) | type of South Tyrol Hunting Tarot | 0 | ||||||
| Visconti-Sforza tarot (Q1343) | 1 |
= List of pattern families
Each pattern family with its source, number of members and number of packs.
| Pattern family | Source | Members | Packs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bavarian pattern family (Q12905) | Hausler: Trommler und Pfeifer (2010), S. 11 | 21 | 65 |
| Lyon I pattern family (Q25439) | IPCS Pattern Sheets, Blatt 62 | 7 | 46 |
| Lyon II/III pattern family (Q25443) | Marc Flöter: answers to the open card-pattern questions (2026), F7, F9 | 3 | 3 |
| Paris pattern family (Q25350) | Alle Karten auf den Tisch (1990), Kat. 132–158 | 15 | 44 |
Four further views of the same holdings:
- Card pattern family tree — the descent of card patterns as a graph with a timeline
- Timeline of standard patterns — dates of origin by suit system, with their uncertainty
- Suspected duplicates — entries that may mean the same card pattern
- Distribution map — where a card pattern is used today, via the property „in Gebrauch in“ (in use in)
What a card pattern is
We follow Manfred Hausler's definition:
„Bild – Kartenbild: Das standardisierte Aussehen eines Spielkartensatzes (Figuren, Farbzeichen, Ausschmückung, Form und Größe der Karten). Häufig mit einem regionalen Bezug benutzt.“ ("Pattern – card pattern: the standardised appearance of a set of playing cards (court figures, suit marks, decoration, shape and size of the cards). Often used with a regional connotation.")
Manfred Hausler: Trommler und Pfeifer (2010), glossary, p. 208
A card pattern therefore covers not only the court figures but also the suit marks, decoration, shape and size. For the finer distinctions within one card pattern Hausler uses a separate term:
„Schema: Varianten innerhalb eines standardisierten Kartenbildes.“ ("Scheme: variants within a standardised card pattern.")
Suit system, card pattern, motif (theme)
Three terms sit close together and mean different things. We keep them as three separate fields.
| Term | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Suit system (Blatt) | the suit system: which four suit marks a pack uses | German-suited with acorns, leaves, hearts, bells |
| Card pattern (Kartenbild) | how the cards look within that suit system | Salzburg pattern, Franconian pattern |
| Motif (theme) | what the cards depict beyond the court figures | hunting tarot, folk-costume cards |
In this wiki "Bild" always means the card pattern. A photograph of a card is called an image (Abbildung).
When a card pattern is its own card pattern
Not every differing drawing establishes a card pattern — otherwise every maker would have their own. Hausler and Peter Blaas independently name the same threshold. Hausler in the glossary under "Standardkarten" (standard cards):
„Das gleiche Kartenbild wird in der Regel von mehreren Kartenmachern (Kartenfabrikanten) für diese Region hergestellt.“ ("The same card pattern is, as a rule, produced by several card makers for that region.")
Blaas describes, for Tyrol, regional traditions that grew into patterns "that recur on cards from several makers"; alongside them stand "special patterns used only once" (Spielkarten aus Alt-Tirol, 1998, p. 4).
Several makers — that is the threshold. Because we record the maker for every pack, it can be checked against the holdings. That is no substitute for expert judgement, but it makes the doubtful cases visible.
For the reverse case — two appearances, one card pattern — Hausler gives the criterion using the Augsburg pattern, whose suit marks are cut once angular and once naturalistic:
„trotzdem werden beide Spiele auf Grund des gleichen Kartenschemas und Karteninhaltes ein und demselben Kartenbild, dem Augsburger Bild, zugeschrieben.“ ("nonetheless both packs are attributed to one and the same card pattern, the Augsburg pattern, on the grounds of the same card scheme and card content.")
The same scheme and the same content outweigh a different cut.
How a card pattern comes about
Rarely by decision. A card maker changes something, the change is liked, others adopt it. Around 1790 Johann Albrecht in Innsbruck gave the acorn Ober a sickle and the acorn Unter a flower in hand; almost all Tyrolean card makers followed suit, and a hundred years later the result was the Tyrolean pattern.
Names of card patterns
Most names by which card patterns are known today come from late-19th-century trade practice, not from research. According to Hausler, the playing-card industry, when naming patterns, "took historical-geographical facts into account only by chance", and:
„häufig wurde das gleiche Kartenbild von unterschiedlichen Herstellern unterschiedlich und indifferent bezeichnet“ ("the same card pattern was often named differently and inconsistently by different makers")
The Prussian pattern, for instance, was played mainly in Silesia; in Berlin it was barely known.
Anyone taking names from catalogues at face value therefore creates duplicates. The International Playing-Card Society identified the problem early: its Pattern Sheets recommend one name per card pattern (recommended name), and about half of them explicitly note under which other name Sylvia Mann lists the same card pattern. We proceed as follows:
- One name per card pattern. Every entry carries exactly one German name, which we
fix.
- The Pattern Sheet number is the language-independent anchor. Where an IPCS
Pattern Sheet describes the same card pattern, we record its number. It lets you find the card pattern whatever name you know it by.
- Names from sources are name variants. The Pattern Sheet's recommended name,
Sylvia Mann's term, a name used in a catalogue: they all sit on the same entry — not as new entries.
Hausler proceeds the same way. Because "Bayerisches Bild" (Bavarian pattern) was in use for two different card patterns, he introduced the name "Altbayerisches Bild" (Old Bavarian pattern) for the older one.
How far names carry is shown by the "International pattern". In Sylvia Mann it denotes the Paris export pattern, today often the Anglo-American pattern. The International Playing-Card Society's Pattern Sheet therefore deliberately recommends no name for it.
Single-figure and double-ended
Older cards show the figure at full length. From the late 18th century the split and mirrored card becomes established. Hausler in the glossary:
„Ganzbild – Einfachbild – Einköpfige: Drei Bezeichnungen, die dasselbe meinen: Ungeteilte Spielkartenvorderseiten mit einer Zeichnung, die die ganze Karte von oben bis unten ausfüllt.“ ("Full figure – single-figure – one-headed: three terms meaning the same thing: undivided card fronts with a drawing filling the whole card from top to bottom.")
„Doppelbild: Mittig oder diagonal geteilte und gespiegelte Kartenvorderseiten.“ ("Double-ended: card fronts split, centrally or diagonally, and mirrored.")
For us this is a property, not a card pattern of its own. A single pack is either single-figure or double-ended. A card pattern can be both, because it was produced in both forms. Hausler shows with the Bavarian pattern why it stays the same card pattern: in splitting it, the diamond coat of arms on the Bells King and the little pictures on the pip cards were lost, and yet —
„Die Charakteristik des Bayerischen Bildes ist aber eingehalten, sodass der Spieler auch im Doppelbild seine bayerische Spielkarte erkennt.“ ("the character of the Bavarian pattern is nonetheless preserved, so that the player recognises his Bavarian playing card even in the double-ended version.")
The exception is card patterns that only ever existed as double-ended. Hausler describes the "Doppelköpfige Böhmisch-Deutsche" (two-headed Bohemian-German), in use alongside the single-figure Bohemian pattern for roughly a hundred years from about 1820:
„Wohl gemerkt: Das war kein Doppelbild des einköpfigen Böhmischen Bildes, sondern ein eigenständiges Kartenbild mit charakteristischer Zeichnung.“ ("Note well: this was not a double-ended version of the single-figure Bohemian pattern, but an independent card pattern with a characteristic design.")
From this follows our rule: if the drawing is the halving of an existing full figure, it is the same card pattern. If it is independent, it is its own.
A card pattern's page states, under "Bildaufteilung" (figure type), in which forms we have evidenced it. If it says only "single-figure", that means: single-figure examples of this card pattern are evidenced. It does not mean the card pattern never existed as double-ended — the entry simply says nothing about that.
Card-pattern family trees often show a double-ended version as its own box with its own date. That shows when a form arose, not a new card pattern.
How we order card patterns
Card patterns do not sit side by side. They have types, form families and descend from one another. The specialist literature has no single vocabulary for this. The International Playing-Card Society gives every type its own Pattern Sheet; in its older identifiers a type appears as a branch under its broader heading, for instance the North-German pattern (F-1.511) under the Hamburg pattern (F-1.51). Blaas distinguishes "type", "sub-type" and "mixed type"; Hausler says "type" and "variant" for the same thing. We therefore do not name levels. We distinguish relationships — by a single question:
A pack has card pattern A. What else then holds?
| Relationship | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| is a type of | Card pattern A is a type of card pattern B. A pack that has card
pattern A therefore also has card pattern B — card pattern A only specifies it more closely. || The Older Tyrolean pattern is a type of Tyrolean pattern. That means: a pack with the Older Tyrolean pattern is also a pack with the Tyrolean pattern. Anyone searching for packs with the Tyrolean pattern will find it. | |
| belongs to the family | Card pattern A belongs to a pattern family. A pack that
has card pattern A is a pack of that family. The family itself is not a card pattern: a pack cannot have it, only belong to it. || The Tyrolean pattern belongs to the family of Bavarian card patterns. That means: every pack with the Tyrolean pattern, including the Older or Younger Tyrolean pattern, is a pack of that family. | |
| descends from | Card pattern A grew out of card pattern B. Nothing follows from
this for a pack that has card pattern A: it does not have card pattern B. || The Older Tyrolean pattern descends from the Late Old-Bavarian pattern. That means: one grew out of the other. A pack with the Older Tyrolean pattern is still not a pack with the Old-Bavarian pattern, and a search for the Old-Bavarian pattern will not find it. | |
| suspected duplicate of | Card pattern A and card pattern B may be the same card
pattern under two names. Until that is decided, both entries remain. || The open cases are on Suspected duplicates. |
The diagram shows the first three relationships for a pack with the Older Tyrolean pattern. The pack has the Older Tyrolean pattern. Because this is a type of the Tyrolean pattern, the pack also has the Tyrolean pattern; and because the Tyrolean pattern belongs to the family of Bavarian card patterns, it is a pack of that family. The orange arrows show descent: the Older Tyrolean pattern descends from the Late Old-Bavarian pattern, the Younger Tyrolean pattern from the Older. Nothing follows from this for the pack — it has neither the Late Old-Bavarian nor the Younger Tyrolean pattern.
Types
For us, a type is an ordinary card-pattern entry that points to its parent card pattern. Anyone searching for the Tyrolean pattern also gets packs with the Older and Younger Tyrolean pattern. The specialist literature counts the same way: Blaas counts 51 packs with the Tyrolean pattern, 31 of them with the Older Tyrolean pattern — the 51 include the 31.
How deep such a chain runs follows from the subject matter; as a rule it is three levels. The lower bound is distinguishability. A type to which no pack can be securely assigned gets no entry.
Pattern families
A pattern family is not a card pattern. No pack can have a family, because a family has no appearance — a pack belongs to it. We create a family only where a source names one. The first is Hausler's "Familie der Bayerischen Spielkarten" (family of Bavarian playing cards), with us the family of Bavarian card patterns, from the Augsburg pattern around 1450 to the Bavarian soldier pattern. The family also lets us hold together siblings, none of which is the parent of the others.
- List of pattern families — all pattern families with
source, number of members and number of packs
Descent
Descent is the material for the family tree. It behaves differently from type membership: a Tyrolean pack is not an Old-Bavarian one, even though the Tyrolean pattern descends from the Old-Bavarian. Hausler derives almost all of today's card patterns with German suit marks from Old Bavaria. A search that also counted descent would find, under "Old-Bavarian pattern", every Salzburg, Tyrolean, Franconian and Bohemian pack too — factually wrong, and it would look correct.
Three rules:
- A card pattern can have several ancestors — the Salzburg pattern, for instance,
according to Hausler goes back to both the Bavarian pattern and the Isar-district pattern.
- If a source requires a precursor without being able to identify it, we record an
unknown ancestor rather than skip the gap.
- An ancestor can also be an event, a law or a decree from which a card pattern arose.
Assumed derivations are marked as presumed.
The data model at a glance
| Field on the card pattern | What it means |
|---|---|
| Suit system | the suit system the card pattern belongs to |
| Date of origin | with its uncertainty: year, decade or century, "about" where the source says so |
| Origin | the area in which the card pattern arose |
| In use in | where the card pattern is used today: region or state, one entry per source with a reference year; a sub-area is added as a note |
| Figure type | single-figure, double-ended or both — each as evidenced |
| Pattern Sheet number | the International Playing-Card Society's Pattern Sheet describing the same card pattern |
| Identifying cards | the cards by which the card pattern is recognised, split into primary and secondary features. A secondary feature alone does not determine a card pattern |
| Source | on every field and every relationship: source and page |
Three things we deliberately do not record as data:
- The history of distribution. Where a card pattern was played in the past is
rarely certain. Hausler infers it from tax stamps, and calls this itself a clue only. The Bavarian pattern from Stralsund arose in Stralsund and was played in Bavaria. The history of distribution therefore appears as text on the card pattern's page. Where a card pattern is used today, by contrast, is a field: "in use in" names the present-day region or state, one entry per source with a reference year — even where two sources draw the boundary differently.
- The inheritance of individual cards. Which figure descends from which is a
research field of its own. It is best presented in an article, with images and reasoning; we do not record it as a database field.
- Named levels. "Type", "sub-type" and "variant" are, for us, not ranks but the
same relationship, applied more than once.
Sources
| Source | What it contributes |
|---|---|
| Pattern Sheets of the International Playing-Card Society | sheets on over a hundred European card patterns: recommended name, history, composition, lists of makers |
| Sylvia Mann: All Cards on the Table (1990) | the first worldwide survey; basis of many names in use today |
| Manfred Hausler: Trommler und Pfeifer (2010) | definitions, identifying features and dates of origin for seventeen Bavarian and neighbouring card patterns, plus their descent |
| Peter Blaas: Spielkarten aus Alt-Tirol (1998) | the Tyrolean card patterns with evidence counts per maker |
Manfred Hausler has given us permission to quote his work verbatim. From the other sources we quote only briefly and otherwise summarise in our own words.
Contributing
Assignments of card patterns reflect the state of research, not settled fact, and experts do not always agree. A reasoned objection is therefore as welcome as an addition.
The section "How do you recognise it?" on the individual card-pattern pages does the most good. It is written by hand and meant to be extended. Anyone who knows a card pattern well contributes more with two sentences there than any automatic analysis could.
We are also looking for packs from the Bavarian and Franconian area: for several of the card patterns Hausler describes, the wiki does not yet know a single pack.
Contact details are on the page Contact.