This is the King of Clubs / batons from a pack of Moroccan Spanish playing cards dated 1890. It belongs to a baraja Espanola (Spanish deck of cards with a traditional design). The four suits are oros (gold coins), copas (cups or trophies), espadas (swords) and bastos (clubs or batons, shown here). A full deck consists of 40 cards because there are no 8s or 9s, and the first court card counts as number 10 (not 11). Packs of this kind, based on the Italian card system, have been around since the 15th century. The pack has a distinctive back design made up of a repeating pattern of crescents and horses' heads. Some of the cards include text in Arabic, but the manufacturer is unknown. These club designs look like tentacles with suckers, but represent knobbly wooden clubs along the lines of an Irish shillelagh. Clubs or batons (in Spanish (bastos)) are thought to represent the peasant class in mediaeval society. Baraja (Spanish decks) are also used like tarot cards in fortune telling / cartomancy / divination. Vertical | Morocco | Design | Pattern | Old-fashioned
High Resolution JPEG Picture of This is the King of Clubs / batons from a pack of Moroccan Spanish playing cards dated 1890. It belongs to a baraja Espanola (Spanish deck of cards with a traditional design). The four suits are oros (gold coins), copas (cups or trophies), espadas (swords) and bastos (clubs or batons, shown here). A full deck consists of 40 cards because there are no 8s or 9s, and the first court card counts as number 10 (not 11). Packs of this kind, based on the Italian card system, have been around since the 15th century. The pack has a distinctive back design made up of a repeating pattern of crescents and horses' heads. Some of the cards include text in Arabic, but the manufacturer is unknown. These club designs look like tentacles with suckers, but represent knobbly wooden clubs along the lines of an Irish shillelagh. Clubs or batons (in Spanish (bastos)) are thought to represent the peasant class in mediaeval society. Baraja (Spanish decks) are also used like tarot cards in fortune telling / cartomancy / divination. [527745237] stock photo
