Ducale - 40 Cartes Espagnoles (Parisian Spanish Pattern)

10/25/2026

Ducale - 40 Cartes Espagnoles (Parisian Spanish Pattern)

INTRODUCTION & IDENTIFICATION DETAILS

The subject of this entry is a pack about which I have found remarkably little information. The only direct reference I have come across is in Atlas of Playing Cards (formerly The Coral Collection, unrelated to this website), where a specimen is identified as belonging to the Ibero-Parisian pattern, more commonly known as the Parisian Spanish pattern. While I agree with this identification, reaching the same conclusion was not entirely straightforward, for reasons we will explore below.

This is a 40-card Spanish-suited deck produced by French manufacturer Ducale. Particularly striking is the complete absence of inscriptions on the cards, while the box bears the legend 40 Cartes Espagnoles, repeated several times. Its design is virtually identical to that of the box of another Ducale pack, featuring to the Moroccan variant of the Spanish National pattern, which we have examined previously.

The main difference between the two boxes is the illustration of a big cat on one side of our specimen, which I have been unable to identify conclusively as either a jaguar or a leopard. This distinction goes beyond mere biological nitpicking on my part, since, curiously, the Parisian Spanish pattern is generally associated with South American markets, whereas the Spanish National variant was intended for North Africa.

I have also been unable to find any references that would help establish a date of manufacture. The previously mentioned entry in Atlas of Playing Cards dates their specimen to around 1970, although I do not know what criteria were used to arrive at this estimate.

ICONOGRAPHY & CLASSIFICATION

The Parisian Spanish pattern is derived from the Spanish National pattern. Initially a variant of the latter, it gradually developed distinctive traits that eventually justified its classification as a separate pattern. This raises an interesting question: how far must a variant depart from its parent pattern before it can be considered a distinct pattern?

As discussed in previous entries, the Moroccan variant of the Spanish National pattern is regarded as precisely that: a variant rather than a pattern per se. The Parisian Spanish pattern, meanwhile, has its own entry in the IPCS classification and is also listed as a distinct pattern in Sylvia Mann's All Cards on the Table. However, Mann describes it as "a slight hiccup on the part of Parisian cardmakers who were issuing what they considered to be the national pack", highlighting the close relationship between the two patterns.

We have previously examined the most widespread version of this pattern through packs produced by the Uruguayan brand Tatú and by Grimaud, which are very similar to one another, leaving little room for confusion. Our pack, however, departs somewhat from these designs and appears to share certain elements with a pack by A. Camoin, although the latter more closely follows the Parisian Spanish pattern.

One of the most distinctive characteristics of the Parisian Spanish pattern is the presence of female riders on the Knights, as seen in our pack. Here, however, feminine features extend to the Knaves, which is not particularly uncommon, and, more strikingly, to the Kings, to the point that one might wonder whether they are actually Queens. In fact, all the court cards share remarkably similar faces, unlike those in the Camoin specimen. The Kings nevertheless retain the short tunics of the Parisian Spanish pattern, with their legs clearly visible.

The Ace of Batons retains the familiar winding, tentacle-like branches found in both the Spanish National and Parisian Spanish patterns, although it lacks the hand that typically holds it in the latter. Such hands do appear, however, on the 4 of Swords, where they hold palm fronds. Another notable feature is the absence of the dog tied to a post on the Knave of Coins, a highly characteristic, though not universal, element of the Parisian Spanish pattern.

As for the Knave and Knight of Batons, both retain the distinctive cudgel shapes inherited from the Spanish National pattern, whereas the King carries a more generic-looking one. The same distinction appears in the Tatú and Grimaud packs, but not in Camoin's, where the cudgels retain their individual shapes across all three court cards.

Lastly, it is worth noting that this pack shares with the Moroccan variant of the Spanish National pattern — both Ducale's version and those produced by other manufacturers — a color palette limited to red, yellow, and blue, which could lead to confusion between the two at first glance. Curiously, the very same combination is found in Grimaud's version of the Parisian Spanish pattern.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As we have seen, taxonomic classification is not always straightforward, particularly when dealing with closely related patterns. It is worth remembering that these classifications are descriptive, not prescriptive: they are categories established retrospectively on the basis of known specimens, rather than rigid models that manufacturers were expected to follow. Ultimately, we try to fit packs into categories, not the other way around.

What makes our Ducale pack particularly intriguing is its retention of features inherited from the Spanish National pattern that are rarely seen in other documented specimens of the Parisian Spanish pattern. I wonder whether these drawings might predate the others, perhaps representing an intermediate stage in the emergence of the two patterns as distinct entities. This is, of course, purely speculative, since we have no reliable chronology for these versions that would allow us to reconstruct the sequence of changes.

Be that as it may, the differences observed not only highlight the iconographic diversity that can exist within a single pattern, but also the limitations of classification systems that can hardly account for every possible variation.