Hector: P.14628-R(29)

Titles

Hector
Jack of Diamonds

Maker(s)

Printmaker: Gatteaux, Nicolas Marie

Entities

• Playing card

Categories

• Print

Description

From a complete pack of 52 playing-cards; hand-coloured woodcut on white laid paper with watermarked fleur-de-lis. A single image, hand-coloured in black, red, yellow, dark blue and lighter blue inks. The Jack, a full-length figure, holds a halberd in his left hand and looks right, his face viewed in profile. A printed title or name at lower left, 'HECTOR': This name for the Jack of Diamonds (presumably a reference to the mythological Prince of Troy) is unique to French playing cards where the court cards are associated with historical or mythical characters. The single image pattern of the court cards was designed by engraver and sculptor, Nicolas-Marie Gatteaux (1751-1832) in 1813, whose name can be found at the centre of the shield on the Jack of Clubs. His designs were based on earlier versions of the so-called Paris pattern, which became the official French pattern in 1813. The verso is blank. The pack can be dated through reference to the Jack of Clubs, which is printed with the name for French excise administration (Administration des Contributions Indirectes) and a date of 1816. From the 19th century until 1945, the appearance of playing cards for domestic consumption was regulated by the French government and all cards were produced on watermarked paper made by the state to show payment of the stamp tax.

Legal notes

Bequeathed by Spencer George Perceval, 1923