THE JÁCHYMOV PLAYING CARDS FROM THE EARLY 16TH CENTURY
INTRODUCTION
Among the most significant movable heritage objects of the town of Jáchymov were – or rather once were – two complete sets of playing cards dating from the early 16th century. They represented an extraordinary find of European importance, as no comparable complete and genuinely used sets are preserved in the collections of the National Museum or other institutions within the Czech Republic. Today, however, the cards are considered missing and their subsequent fate remains unclear.
HISTORY AND CONTEXT
Playing cards were produced in the Czech lands as early as the beginning of the 15th century, although the earliest written record of a card-making workshop dates only from 1517. The oldest surviving cards in the Czech lands from 1547 are preserved in the Silesian Museum in Opava, but they remain uncut and therefore unused. Another known set from 1557 from Prague is likewise missing.
The Jáchymov cards are exceptional because they were already in use before the official founding of the town in 1516, during the early phase of intensive mining settlement in the region. Moreover, they survived as two complete and evidently played sets, which made them a unique example on a global scale.
Anonymous cards from Cheb dated 1521, preserved in the Cary Collection of the Yale University Library, may also be connected with Jáchymov, as they were stored together with a collection of Jáchymov talers. This connection, however, remains hypothetical. These cards are not complete.
DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION
In Europe, playing cards are traditionally divided into four main types – Italian, Spanish, German and French – differing in suit symbols and artistic conception. The Jáchymov cards belonged to the German type, specifically the so-called Stukeley subtype.
A distinctive feature of this type is the acorn ace depicting a unicorn or a lion with a ribbon. Cards of this subtype often feature crossed mining hammer and mallet, particularly on the two of hearts. This motif reflects their origin in the mining regions of Saxony and probably also Bohemia.
The cards were produced using the woodcut technique. The front side was white and the images were hand-coloured. The reverse side was plain, without decoration, in a grey tone. Each deck consisted of 52 single-figure cards, with the ace ranking as the lowest card. The card maker and the precise place of production remain unknown.
DISCOVERY AND FATE
The circumstances of the discovery are remarkable. The cards were not lying loosely but had been carefully hidden or reused as material in a book repair.
In the early 1990s, rare books from the Latin Library of Jáchymov were transported to the restoration workshop of artistic bookbinder Jan Sobota in Loket. After restoration, they were returned to Jáchymov and stored in the town hall building.
By coincidence, a heating pipe burst in the room, and nearly thirty books were literally standing in water. They had to be transported back to Loket. During the renewed restoration process, Jan Sobota had to produce new bindings for several volumes that were indistinguishable from the originals. He was allowed to keep the damaged covers for further study.
It was then that he discovered playing cards pasted into the spines and covers of the books. They had likely been inserted there in the early 16th century by a Jáchymov bookbinder, possibly as reinforcement material, as inexpensive filler at hand, or in order to dispose of the cards.
At that time, the Church strongly opposed playing cards, considering them morally harmful “devilish images.” Although this may seem excessive today, many miners lost and drank away their wages at card games. In this sense, the Church’s position reflected a socially understandable concern.
PRESENT SITUATION
Jan Sobota documented both the cards and the discovery photographically, had them professionally conserved, and subsequently handed them over to the Jáchymov town hall. In the following years, however, both decks disappeared. It is no longer clear to whom they were specifically entrusted, as Jan Sobota has since passed away. Despite repeated searches, the cards have not been located.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The principal research into the Jáchymov cards was carried out by the local researcher Jaroslav Ochec, whose findings served as the main source for this article.
