Andy's Playing Cards - Spanish-suited Cards

One of the most fascinating varieties of Spanish-related cards is the Cadíz pattern: its graphic relation to early cards is still very evident. Curiously, the name Cadíz is never found in manufacturers' catalogues, as it is only used by playing card collectors and historians to define this design. Although it is no longer used in its own home country, and despite the many names under which it is marketed elsewhere, its features are steady enough to fully entitle the Cadí design to be listed among other standard regional patterns.

	Historically, the birth of this pattern dates back to the early 19th century. It was one among several new patterns that during the aforesaid period were devised in various parts of Spain by different manufacturers. Most of them barely survived for a few years, but this was not the case of the pattern that came from the city of Cadíz (Andalusia).

Initially, this design was used both in the south of the country and in several Spanish colonies where the cards were exported (particularly in Northern Africa, America and Asia).

When the Castilian pattern became the national design (from the early 1900s onwards), the Cadíz pattern had already subsided in its own homeland, but not abroad, where it managed to survive much longer. Today it can still be found mainly in countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, more and more seldom in Hong Kong (see below, Los Dos Tigres variety) and the Philippines (see below, Cuajo cards), and in some South American countries, where this pattern seems to coexist with the much more popular Catalan one.	Cadíz pattern, 40-card edition by A.Camoin & Cie. (Morocco)

When the Castilian pattern became the national design (from the early 1900s onwards), the Cadíz pattern had already subsided in its own homeland, but not abroad, where it managed to survive much longer. Today it can still be found mainly in countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, more and more seldom in Hong Kong (see below, Los Dos Tigres variety) and the Philippines (see below, Cuajo cards), and in some South American countries, where this pattern seems to coexist with the much more popular Catalan one.

Cadíz pattern, 40-card edition by A.Camoin & Cie. (Morocco)

Therefore, the Cadíz cards can be considered an almost entirely 'export variety'. During the 20th century also southern French Manufacturers (Camoin, La Ducale) manufactured the pattern, mainly for export purposes. Branches of the Camoin firm were also opened in northern Africa.
A typical difference between Spanish-derived and French-derived editions is the decoration of the ace of Coins, which features a crown and two crossed branches in the former case (for Asia and South America), and two ribbons in the latter (North African editions).

Cadíz pattern by Malka Frères (Morocco); all aces feature the Arabic text Al Maghreb ("Morocco")

Cadíz decks may consist of either 48 or 40 cards, as any other Spanish variety.

Typical details of the Cadíz pattern are easily recognizable:

Cups have the shape of chalices, whose cylindrical upper part is decorated with a /////// motif.

The cavalier of Cups traditionally features the word Ahiva or Ahí va, an exclamation whose connection to the card's subject is still obscure (see also the Expressions gallery), for which reason modern editions tend to drop it.

The cudgels in the Batons suit are even more irregular than the ones featured in the Catalan pattern; the ace, in particular, has many long branches that spring from the shaft.
The court characters are roughly drawn, giving the illustrations a naive look, and the colours usually have a dimmer shade than in any other pattern.

The cards traditionally have sharp (i.e. non-rounded) corners.

Despite the relatively recent origin, their design maintained several details of the old national pattern (see the historical notes in page 1), such as the shape of Cups and Batons (cudgels), the attitude of the court personages, and others. The overall visual resemblance with such cards is quite evident.
The classic Cadíz design shares many details with other Spanish-suited patterns, among which the tiny numeral indices in the opposite corners and the same code of broken lines along the frame indicating which of the four suits a subject belongs to.

left: Cadíz court cards, by Malka Frères (Morocco);
the knave of Cups from the Uruguayan Estilo Paris is shown on the right

The kings are similar to the ones of the Catalan pattern, i.e. with an 'hourglass' (tapered) shape, and so are the four rampant horses.
The knave of Coins, instead, is reminiscent of the Estilo Paris pattern used in Uruguay (see page 2), as the background decoration features a hound tied to a short pole, a rather unique detail only found in these two patterns.

The edition called Cartes Espagnoles (Spanish Cards) by the French manufacturer La Ducale preserves most of the standard features of Cadíz decks, yet introducing rounded corners and plastic coating, for the sake of an easier handling and a much greater durability. Also their graphic quality is definitely neater, although most of the beauty of traditional editions is actually due to the old-fashioned manufacturing technique, that makes their slightly unevenly coloured and sometimes off-centered illustrations look similar to woodblock prints.	Cartes Espagnoles by La Ducale (France)

The edition called Cartes Espagnoles (Spanish Cards) by the French manufacturer La Ducale preserves most of the standard features of Cadíz decks, yet introducing rounded corners and plastic coating, for the sake of an easier handling and a much greater durability. Also their graphic quality is definitely neater, although most of the beauty of traditional editions is actually due to the old-fashioned manufacturing technique, that makes their slightly unevenly coloured and sometimes off-centered illustrations look similar to woodblock prints.

Cartes Espagnoles by La Ducale (France)

A less classic variety of the Cadíz style is a traditional brand manufactured by Fournier (Spain), named Los Dos Tigres ("the two tigers"), whose trademark fills the central space of the 4 of Coins.

Los Dos Tigres brand, by Fournier (Spain)	It was originally made for Spanish-speaking areas in Asia and Africa, and still today these cards are being exported to such faraway coutries, although the number of players who presently use these cards has considerably decreased. In this case the design is definitely more accurate and refined than the one found in standard Cadíz versions, including the decoration of the Cups, which no longer have the simple ///// motif. The cards are plastic-coated, their corners are rounded, but other traditional details (the Ahi Va expression, the wriggly shape of the ace of Batons, etc.) are maintained.

Los Dos Tigres brand, by Fournier (Spain)

It was originally made for Spanish-speaking areas in Asia and Africa, and still today these cards are being exported to such faraway coutries, although the number of players who presently use these cards has considerably decreased.
In this case the design is definitely more accurate and refined than the one found in standard Cadíz versions, including the decoration of the Cups, which no longer have the simple ///// motif. The cards are plastic-coated, their corners are rounded, but other traditional details (the Ahi Va expression, the wriggly shape of the ace of Batons, etc.) are maintained.

In central and south American countries, the few Cadíz editions still in use often show signs of hybridization with the other main design from Spain, the Catalan pattern. The sample on the right comes from El Salvador, and belongs to these variants. For instance, the aforesaid exclamation Ahí va is missing from the cavalier of Cups, and the shape of the ace of Batons is not as rough as it should be. However, the square corners, the naive finish of the illustrations, and other features are clearly consistent with a Cadíz deck. Another edition halfway between the Cadíz and Catalan patterns, from Argentina, is shown in page 3.	Cisne brand, from El Salvador

In central and south American countries, the few Cadíz editions still in use often show signs of hybridization with the other main design from Spain, the Catalan pattern. The sample on the right comes from El Salvador, and belongs to these variants. For instance, the aforesaid exclamation Ahí va is missing from the cavalier of Cups, and the shape of the ace of Batons is not as rough as it should be. However, the square corners, the naive finish of the illustrations, and other features are clearly consistent with a Cadíz deck.
Another edition halfway between the Cadíz and Catalan patterns, from Argentina, is shown in page 3.

Cisne brand, from El Salvador

The Philippines are among the few Asian countries where the use of the Cadíz pattern is still reported; the game played with these cards is called Cuajo. Regretfully, the game has almost turned obsolete, and the locals who know how to play are very scarce.
The Philippines used to be a Spanish colony up to the late 1800s; this gives reason for the use of the Cadíz pattern, but the rules of the game came from the Far East. Traders from China are known to have reached the Philippines as early as the 11th century, and other clues too seem to indicate that the origin of Cuajo is almost certainly Chinese.

The deck has a very special composition. Each suit consists of seven subjects only: ace, 3, 4, 5, knave, cavalier and king; for each subject there are four identical cards, so their total is 7 x 4 suits x 4 times = 112. This matches precisely the composition of the so-called Four Colour cards (see page 3 of the Chinese gallery).

In second place, the rules of Cuajo have much in common with those of Mah Jong, Si Se Pai, Ceki (see Indonesia and Malaysia) and others belonging to the same group: taking turns, the players pick one undealt card, discard one of theirs, and try to complete simple combinations such as three aces, three 5s, etc., or series (3-4-5, etc.) in order to close the hand.

Furthermore, the same word Cuajo is Chinese. In Spanish it means "clot", but since this has no connection with the game, the name is likely the translitteration of an indigenous term. A Chinese game played with Four Colour cards, called Kwa Oh (i.e. the same pronounciation as Cuajo in Spanish), has been reported in the playing card literature, although its rules are not known; the spelling of this game's name in Chinese glyphs is

	Interestingly, the same two glyphs, according to the main language spoken in China, i.e. Mandarin, sound Kan Hu; a game with this name was reported by sinologist Wilkinson, by the turn of the 20th century (see more about his research on Chinese cards in China, page 1). Wilkinson even created a card game of his own, based on the original one, which he called Kanhoo, evidently bearing in mind the Chinese name, and marketed it in Western countries.

Interestingly, the same two glyphs, according to the main language spoken in China, i.e. Mandarin, sound Kan Hu; a game with this name was reported by sinologist Wilkinson, by the turn of the 20th century (see more about his research on Chinese cards in China, page 1). Wilkinson even created a card game of his own, based on the original one, which he called Kanhoo, evidently bearing in mind the Chinese name, and marketed it in Western countries.

We do not know whether Kwa Oh and Kan Hu were the same game. The characters used by Wilkinson for spelling Kan Hu are

, partly mismatching the aforesaid ones. This is only apparently a controversy, as in both names the couplets of glyphs have no real meaning (the first one translates "looking at the lake", the second one "looking at a pot"): they are used phonetically, i.e. only to produce a given sound, as close as possible to the game's name. Since

and

are pronounced exactly in the same way, there is no real difference between

and

.
The special deck for playing Cuajo is only manufactured by the Spanish firm Fournier. The cards have sharp corners, and most of the features typical of classic Cadíz editions.

go to

page 1 homeland patterns - I	page 2 homeland patterns - II	page 3 early fancy patterns	page 4 South American patterns

GLOSSARY

	actual translation

NAIPES		PLAYING CARDS
BARAJA		DECK
PALOS	poles	SUITS
OROS	gold	COINS
COPAS		CUPS
ESPADAS		SWORDS
BASTOS		BATONS
DIAMANTES		DIAMONDS
CORAZONES		HEARTS
TRÉBOL	clover	CLUBS
PICOS	spikes	SPADES
AS		ACE
SOTA		KNAVE (Spanish-suited decks)
PAJE		JACK (French-suited decks)
CABALLO	horse	HORSEMAN (CAVALIER)
REINA		QUEEN
REY		KING