Jeu Des Grotesque

[TheBadJoker]

Good Morning:
Time for another unusual deck posting.  The French deck , Jeu des Grotesque 32/32, was first published in the early 19th century.  It was later reprinted from the original plates in the 1970's.  I have asked the experts that I know if there is anyway to tell the difference between the original and the reproductions and no one has been able to help me with any degree of certainty.

I finally decided to take it to a restoration facility in Chicago called Graphic Conservation who do museum quality paper restoration to find out if they could perhaps tell me the approximate age of the paper.  They wrote a report that they felt the paper was 19th century.  Unfortunately, they could not get any more specific than that without extensive (expensive) testing.  However, I am happy to know that they were indeed printed in the 19th century and are not a contemporary reproduction.  The deck is also from a collection that was put together prior to 1970. This deck will be in the Potter & Potter auction May 31st & June 1st.

[Don Boyer]

Good Morning:
Time for another unusual deck posting.  The French deck , Jeu des Grotesque 32/32, was first published in the early 19th century.  It was later reprinted from the original plates in the 1970's.  I have asked the experts that I know if there is anyway to tell the difference between the original and the reproductions and no one has been able to help me with any degree of certainty.

I finally decided to take it to a restoration facility in Chicago called Graphic Conservation who do museum quality paper restoration to find out if they could perhaps tell me the approximate age of the paper.  They wrote a report that they felt the paper was 19th century.  Unfortunately, they could not get any more specific than that without extensive (expensive) testing.  However, I am happy to know that they were indeed printed in the 19th century and are not a contemporary reproduction.  The deck is also from a collection that was put together prior to 1970. This deck will be in the Potter & Potter auction May 31st & June 1st.

If the reprints used paper of the era of the original, it wouldn't be an accurate test of age anyway.  One thing I have heard about prints made from a plate is that the first prints have the greatest sharpness and clarity, while subsequent printings show the wear on the plate in the form of less clarity of the image.  A comparison between known examples of each would likely reveal the difference.

You'd be surprised what you can learn on the History Channel!