The hand-painted ones were only for the wealthy. I was mainly referring to the mass production ones used by the general population. The cheapest and most common ones seem to stick to the RYB scheme. I know certain dyes were cheaper than others, English soldiers wore red uniforms for 250 years for this reason.

BTW, are you still working on your Topkapi or minchiate decks? I was planning on making a Mamluk poker deck until I saw your posts and saw you were further ahead. I couldn't find any pictures on the internet of what the backs of the Topkapi cards are but I assume they were plain backs. Otherwise, I can't explain the atrocious blue pattern Cartamundi selected for their 1970's reproductions.

I have a question regarding the limited range of colors on many card patterns that date from the woodblock and stencil era. It seems to me that manufacturers used only black and the old primary colors of red, yellow, and blue. Was it a technical limitation or an economic one? I know some inks used to be more expensive in the past but I think German-suited cards from the same era were generally more colorful because green was required for their suit of leaves.

Here are some examples of the RYB color scheme:
Paris pattern: http://www.altacarta.com/overview/francais.html
Trentine, probably the oldest Italian pattern: http://www.mydearplayingcards.com/2006_ITALIA_HTML/027_Baraja-Trentine.php
Spanish National, ancestor to most Spanish packs: http://www.mydearplayingcards.com/2006_MARRUECOS_HTML/002_Baraja-Esp.php
Swiss c. 1830: http://www.wopc.co.uk/switzerland/hurter-1.html
... and of course the English faces we are all familiar with.

So was it money, technology, or aesthetics that limited the range of colors?

My hunch is that while the deck is in the public domain, the scans the museum provide are not. Much like how any photos you take belong to you even if what you took is available to everyone else. Since the museum doesn't let anyone scan their cards without permission, they are effectively gatekeepers.

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the reply. Is it really the oldest Joker? I think it's circa 1863 but some internet sources say there's an 1857 one which is a bit too early but still within the realm of possibility.

I'm not exactly sure since it was a few months ago but maybe through the 52+J website or through google as I was researching playing cards.