Four of Coins: P.14632-R(7)

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Four of Coins

Maker(s)

Printmaker: Unknown
Publisher: Clarizia, Dionisio

Entities

Playing card

Description

A hand-coloured woodcut of four gold coins which contain a central double-edged six-pointed star framed by a circle of leaves. A coat of arms printed at the centre features a shield bearing a white cross, surmounted by a crown and with flags to either side. The shield with white cross and crown is a symbol of the House of Savoy, the rulers of the Kingdom of Italy until 1946. The card is unnumbered. From an incomplete pack, 38 of 40 cards in the Neopolitan pattern, for the game of Ombre. The missing cards are the King of Clubs and the Ace of Clubs. Ombre, a card game which originated in Spain in the 16th century, uses a stripped deck where all the 8, 9 and 10 ranks are missing. These cards were made in Salerno in southern Italy in 1881 (See Ace of Coins), where cards with Spanish suits were commonly used. The backs of the cards feature a design of blue chevrons around a central oval-shaped medallion containing a double-ended image of a group of buildings, presumably in Salerno, but not identified. The backs of the cards are folded over the edges of the fronts forming a border that is typical of Italian-made cards.
A very similar pack, close in date but made in Naples, is in the collection of the British Museum. See: 1875,1211.172-211. The British Museum pack features the same design on the backs of the cards but with a double-ended image of the Royal Palace in Naples.