Based in Kanagawa, Japan, Jack Brutus Penny, an artist who works in many media, made a big splash with his first deck release in 2019. Sensu is his second playing card project to date. As with his first project, the proceeds were used to help support animal welfare.
The Japanese word
sensu means "folding fan" in English. Beyond its luxurious design and appointments, these two decks contain innovations that I've never seen in any other deck preceding them. Fuyu-no-Sensu ("Winter?s Fan", in turquoise) and Haru-no-Sensu ("Spring's Fan", in vermillion) have unique faces incorporating seasonal botanicals in their design with angled, art-covered border which create a complete artistic scene when fanned in specific patterns, such as the spot cards or the court cards from a single suit, much like the intricate designs painted on some of the finest Japanese fans. The Fuyu-no-Sensu deck is closer to the artist's vision in terms of an unblemished canvas for his art - the court cards have no indices and the deck comes with a Japanese folding screen, or
byobu, crafted by hand by Kyoto-based
byobu artisans. The Haru-no-Sensu deck is more of a compromise design, with indices for card players. There is a third deck, limited to only 50 packs - it's the "Golden Winter's Fan": Fuyu-no-Sensu with metallic inks and foils switched to gold. The fourth and final deck is "The Full-Blossoming Fan": Haru-no-Sensu in a 250-deck limited edition of gilded decks with foiled, cut deck sleeves.
The project was limited to 1,000 decks of each of the two main deck designs, individually serial-numbered. The entire project's decks were manufactured by the Expert Playing Card Company, using classic stock with metallic inks, packed into tuck boxes with foil details and heavy, textured stock.
Kickstarter project:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jackbrutuspenny/sensuArtist website page on playing cards, including this and the previous project:
https://www.jackbrutuspenny.com/playing-cards
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