Mamluk Cards

earthair

I can see the links in Quote. Shame they are gone :(
 

blue_fusion

Thanks very much :)

I think I have a slight obsession ever since I saw them! :shhh:

Has anyone completed a whole usable deck?

How many cards did variantventures' deck have? Is it still possible to get one?

Thanks for bumping this! Been interested in the set for ages. Someone recently posted in FB about the lavish 1970s repro of this. Huge cards!

Variantventures recently commented on of my thread in a playing card forum, with a link to his PS page. Here is his PS page (Mods I hope it's ok to post this): http://bit.ly/VariantVentures (I couldn't post the long url because my phone keeps on posting it in the middle of my reply! Ah Merc Retro!)

If you scroll down, it's the Tokapi deck. I think that's the reason why it's been so hard to locate his deck. He removed the Mamluk name and then misspeled the new one (the original deck was discovered in the ToPkapi palace, I think).

There was another playing card project in kickstarter which originally had the name Mamluk, but they later changed it to Sultana. This deck doesn't have any resemblance to the Mamluk IMO.
 

variantventures

Guys and gals I'm sorry the images disappeared. I re-organized the images on my Facebook account without considering what that would do to links I had created elsewhere.

The Mamluk/Topkapi deck is still in progress. The black and white deck, done as part of the layouts, is still available to people. I am about 8 cards in to the full color deck and while I was hoping to average 1 card per day I'm actually getting about 2 cards per week. It's a complicated process with multiple steps required to layout, color, and finish each card. Last I counted there were twenty layers for one of the cards (and those layers were generated by combining multiple layers so it's more like 80 layers) and each card image file is about 1GB in size.

Once I've finished these the plan is to try and Kickstart them in order to do a large enough print run (approximately 500) that we can use metallic inks. Failing that they will be offered for sale on print on demand.

I will also be putting together my research references (which doesn't contain anything startling or new) and making that available online. Honestly, you guys did most of the real work here on this forum.
 

variantventures

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Now let me explain what you're looking at. This is a low res image I pulled from the test file. It's the 8 of polo-sticks with a lot, but not all, of the line art included. In particular you can see the floral decoration around the heads of the dragons is missing. The colors are rough approximations. In the years I've been working on this I've acquired the skill to make colors look closer to hand-painted and the plan is to do so. The borders of the cards will be decorate using a gold-foil appearance. Funding permitting I'd like to print the cards using metallic inks to replace the foil.

The hold-up right now is getting the floral detail line art added to each card. I am not a skilled artist so I frequently get the arrangement wrong and have to start over. I'd like to say I'm getting better at it, but since each card is just that much different I'm actually not; each card is a struggle and I'm slowly completing them.

I've continued to research the cards. Based on several photographs I've seen I'm pretty convinced the borders were originally done in gold foil and that gold foil was applied to much of the detail work, notably the cups. I've been unable to get responses to inquiries from the Topkapi Museum regarding these cards (thickness of the paper, availability of better photographs, are the cards on public display, and etc...) but a friend may be visiting Turkey this Fall and has promised to try to obtain photographs.

These cards are also based on the de Unger card fragment. That collection is in the process of moving from Berlin to Dallas and I have been in contact with the new museum about getting access to the fragment. They have promised to contact me when they have completed the move.
 

earthair

Once I've finished these the plan is to try and Kickstart them in order to do a large enough print run (approximately 500) that we can use metallic inks. Failing that they will be offered for sale on print on demand.

I will also be putting together my research references (which doesn't contain anything startling or new) and making that available online. Honestly, you guys did most of the real work here on this forum.

Count me in for Kickstarter :thumbsup:

So will you be doing a 78 card deck or just a few of the existing cards?
 

blue_fusion

Count me in for Kickstarter :thumbsup:

So will you be doing a 78 card deck or just a few of the existing cards?

I don't think the Mamluk had majors...
 

Alta

A large number of posts were split off to start their own thread on creating a 78 card Mamluk deck.

This thread should remain around variantventures' creation of his version.

Alta
Moderator
 

gregory

I don't think the Mamluk had majors...
No it doesn't. The Mamluk pack contained 52 cards in four suits: polo sticks, coins, swords, and cups. In each suit there are ten number cards and three courts: king, viceroy and second viceroy. Some later version had four courts to each suit, I believe - but no trumps.
 

blue_fusion

No it doesn't. The Mamluk pack contained 52 cards in four suits: polo sticks, coins, swords, and cups. In each suit there are ten number cards and three courts: king, viceroy and second viceroy. Some later version had four courts to each suit, I believe - but no trumps.

Would you know what the court titles for this later 4-courts version are called?