The Crowned Heads of Europe - a photo on Flickriver

            These beautiful whist playing cards were made in Germany by the card firm B. Dondorf in 1909.  The deck features beautiful chromolithographed images of people dressed in the pomaded wigs, frock coats, jabots and gowns of the Eighteenth Century, as the kings, queens and knaves in the deck.  Sets like these are very collectable today, since even though millions of Dondorf cards were produced, complete packets in such good condition are hard to come by.

The theme for "Looking Close on Friday" for the 21st of June is "playing cards", which I found to be a lovely challenge.  Besides the arrangement, my hardest decision was which deck of Dondorf cards did I want to use, since I have three sets in total.  This set with its amazing graphics won out in the end.  I hope you like my choice for the theme this week, and that it makes you smile.   

The firm of B. Dondorf was founded in April 1833 by the lithographer Bernard Dondorf, who headed the company until July 1872. In that year, Dondorf's sons Carl and Paul, as well as his son in law Jacob Fries, assumed control of the firm which continued to operate under the original trademark. Jacob Fries left the firm in the early part of 1890. From the beginning, the company specialised in all branches of lithography. In cooperation with the printing firm of C. Naumann, Dondorf also printed paper bank notes for the Italian National Bank and for the Imperial Japanese Government. In 1871, the firm moved within Frankfurt from the Saalgasse to a new and larger factory site in the Bockenheimer Landstrasse 136. The steady growth of the company required the building of still additional subdivisions in 1890 and 1895. Principal products of the firm were playing cards, various games, greeting and post cards and various religious prints. The export of playing cards at Dondorf's accounted for much of the firm's business. The Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the period before World War I, for example, imported nearly all of their playing cards from Dondorf. Similarly, the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia were excellent customers. Bernard Dondorf, the founder died in his 94th year. He earned an enviable reputation as a lithographer, especially for his technique of etching the stone with a diamond stylus. His special methods of engraving bank notes were also unique. In 1929 the decision was reached to liquidate the firm.

Taken on: June 12, 2024

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Looking Close on Friday

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Sets appears in: • Collectables • Looking Close... on Friday!

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Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, 6.2mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon DIGITAL IXUS 80 IS
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.02 sec (1/50)
Focal Length:	6.2mm
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
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