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Face Cards
In a deck of playing cards, the term face card (US) or court card (British and US), and sometimes Royalty, is generally used to describe a card that depicts a person as opposed to the pip cards. They are also known as picture cards, or until the early 20th century, coat cards. History While playing cards were invented in China, Chinese playing cards do not have a concept of face cards. When playing cards arrived in Iran, the Persians created the first face cards.The best preserved deck is located in the Topkapı Palace. To avoid idolatry, the cards did not depict human faces and instead featured abstract designs or calligraphy for the ''malik'' (king), ''nā'ib malik'' (viceroy or deputy king) and ''thānī nā'ib'' (second or under-deputy). It is possible that the Topkapı deck, a custom made luxury item used for display, does not represent the cards played by commoners. There are fragments of what may be Mamluk court cards from cheaper decks showing human figures which may expl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playing Card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a finish to make handling easier. They are most commonly used for playing card games, and are also used in magic tricks, cardistry, card throwing, and card houses; cards may also be collected. Some patterns of Tarot playing card are also used for divination, although bespoke cards for this use are more common. Playing cards are typically palm-sized for convenient handling, and usually are sold together in a set as a deck of cards or pack of cards. The most common type of playing card in the West is the French-suited, standard 52-card pack, of which the most widespread design is the English pattern, followed by the Belgian-Genoese pattern. However, many countries use other, traditional types of playing card, including those that are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trionfi (cards)
Trionfi (, 'triumphs') are 15th-century Italian playing cards with allegorical content related to those used in tarocchi games. The general English expression " trump card" and the German "trumpfen" (in card games) have developed from the Italian "Trionfi". Most cards feature the personification of a place or abstraction. History Many of the motifs found in trionfi are found in trionfo, theatrical processions that were popular in the Italian Renaissance. The Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara, once owned by the ducal House of Este, contains many murals depicting these floats. Petrarch wrote a poem called ''I Trionfi'' which may have served as inspiration. The earliest known use of the name "Trionfi" in relation to cards can be dated to 16 September 1440 in the records of a Florentine notary, Giusto Giusti. He recorded a transaction where he transferred two expensive personalized decks to Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta. In a letter from 11 November 1449, Antonio Jacopo Marcello us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clown
A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, around 2400 BC. Unlike court jesters, clowns have traditionally served a socio-religious and psychological role, and traditionally the roles of priest and clown have been held by the same persons. Peter Berger writes, "It seems plausible that folly and fools, like religion and magic, meet some deeply rooted needs in human society." For this reason, clowning is often considered an important part of training as a physical performance discipline, partly because tricky subject matter can be dealt with, but also because it requires a high level of risk and play in the performer. In anthropology, the term ''clown'' has been extended to comparable jester or fool characters in non-Western cultures. A society in which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jester
A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town markets, and the discipline continues into the modern day, where jesters perform at historical-themed events. During the Middle Ages, jesters are often thought to have worn brightly colored clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern. Their modern counterparts usually mimic this costume. Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills: principal among them were song, music, and storytelling, but many also employed acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes (such as puns, stereotypes, and imitation), and performing magic tricks. Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style. Many jesters made contemporary jokes in word or song about people or events well known to their audiences. Etymology The modern use of the E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joker (Playing Card)
The Joker is a playing card found in most modern French-suited card decks, as an addition to the standard four suits (Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades). From the second half of the 20th century, they have also been found in Spanish- and Italian-suited decks, excluding stripped decks. The Joker originated in the United States during the Civil War, and was created as a trump card for the game of Euchre. It has since been adopted into many other card games, where it often acts as a wild card, but may have other functions such as the top trump, a skip card (forcing another player to miss a turn), the lowest-ranking card, the highest-value card or a card of a different value from the rest of the pack (see e.g. Zwickern which has 6 Jokers with this function). By contrast, a wild card is any card that may be used to represent another card or cards; it need not be a Joker. Origin The game of Euchre is credited with the introduction of the Joker into card games. However, Euchre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trump (card Games)
A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''trump card'' or ''to trump'' refers to any sort of action, authority, or policy which automatically prevails over all others. Etymology The English word '' trump'' derives from '' trionfi'', a type of 15th-century Italian playing cards, from the Latin '' triumphus'' "triumph, victory procession", ultimately (via Etruscan) from Greek θρίαμβος, the term for a hymn to Dionysus sung in processions in his honour. ''Trionfi'' was the 15th-century card game for which tarot cards were designed. ''Trionfi'' were a fifth suit in the card game which acted as permanent trumps. Still in the 15th century, the French game ''triomphe'' (Spanish '' triunfo'') used four suits, one of which was randomly selected as trumps. It was this game that bec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Playing Cards
French-suited playing cards or French-suited cards are cards that use the French suits of (clovers or clubs ), (tiles or diamonds ), (hearts ), and (pikes or spades ). Each suit contains three or four face/court cards. In a standard 52-card pack these are the ( knave or jack), the ( lady or queen), and the (king). In addition, in Tarot packs, there is a (cavalier) ranking between the queen and the knave. Aside from these aspects, decks can include a wide variety of regional and national patterns, which often have different deck sizes. In comparison to Spanish, Italian, German, and Swiss playing cards, French cards are the most widespread due to the geopolitical, commercial, and cultural influence of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. Other reasons for their popularity were the simplicity of the suit insignia, which simplifies mass production, and the popularity of whist and contract bridge. The English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spanish Playing Cards
Spanish-suited playing cards or Spanish-suited cards have four suits, and a deck is usually made up of 40 or 48 cards (or even 50 by including two jokers). It is categorized as a Latin-suited deck and has strong similarities with the Italian-suited deck and some to the French deck. Spanish-suited cards are used in Spain, southern Italy, parts of France, Hispanic America, North Africa, and the Philippines. Description Playing cards, originally of Chinese origin, were adopted Mamluk Egypt by the 14th century if not earlier, and from there spread to the Iberian peninsula. The Spanish word ''naipes'' is loaned from ''nā'ib'', ranks of face cards found in the Mamluk deck. The earliest record of ''naip'' comes from a Valencian rhyming dictionary by Jaume March II in 1371, but without any context or definition. By 1380, ''naipero'' (card-maker) was a recognized profession. Valencia's town council issued a blanket ban on ''un novell joch apellat dels naips'' (a new game called ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Playing Cards
Playing cards (''carte da gioco'') have been in Italy since the late 14th century. Until the mid 19th century, Italy was composed of many smaller independent states which led to the development of various regional patterns of playing cards; "Italian suited cards" normally only refer to cards originating from northeastern Italy around the former Republic of Venice, which are largely confined to northern Italy, parts of Switzerland, Dalmatia and southern Montenegro. Other parts of Italy traditionally use traditional local variants of Spanish suits, French suits or German suits. As Latin-suited cards, Italian and Spanish suited cards use swords (''spade''), cups (''coppe''), coins (''denari''), and clubs (''bastoni''). All Italian suited decks have three face cards per suit: the ''fante'' ( Knave), ''cavallo'' (Knight), and ''re'' (King), unless it is a tarocchi deck in which case a ''donna'' or ''regina'' (Queen) is inserted between the ''cavallo'' and ''re''. Popular games ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King (playing Card)
The king is a playing card with a picture of a king displayed on it. The king is usually the highest-ranking face card. In the French version of playing cards and tarot decks, the king immediately outranks the queen. In Italian and Spanish playing cards, the king immediately outranks the knight. In German and Swiss playing cards, the king immediately outranks the '' Ober''. In some games, the king is the highest-ranked card; in others, the ace is higher. Aces began outranking kings around 1500 with Trappola being the earliest known game in which the aces were highest in all four suits. In the Ace-Ten family of games such as pinochle and schnapsen, both the ace and the 10 rank higher than the king. History The king card is the oldest and most universal court card. It most likely originated in Persian Ganjifeh where kings are depicted as seated on thrones and outranking the viceroy cards which are mounted on horses. Playing cards were transmitted to Italy and Spain via the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarocco Bolognese
The Tarocco Bolognese is a tarot deck found in Bologna and is used to play tarocchini. It is a 62 card Italian suited deck which influenced the development of the Tarocco Siciliano and the obsolete Minchiate deck. The earliest mention of tarocchi in connection to Bologna was in 1442 when a Bolognese merchant sold two decks of trionfi in the city of Ferrara. The earliest known mention of trionfi in Bologna itself dates to 1459. Local tradition dating from at least the 17th century, ascribes the invention of tarot to Prince Francesco Antelminelli Castracani Fibbia (1360-1419), great-grandson of Castruccio Castracani. This is one of the oldest decks in continual use, dating back to at least the 15th century. The oldest surviving uncut sheets, dating from the late 15th or early 16th century, are held in the Rothschild Collection in the Louvre and in the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. It is an expansion of the pre-existing Bolognese deck by adding queens, the Fool ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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