Swiss-suited Jass cards are typically played with in the eastern German-speaking cantons (see map below); further west and in the areas where other languages are spoken, though, these cards are not very popular. In particular, the French-speaking players prefer a different pattern, with the same composition as the previous one (i.e. 6 to 10, three courts and an ace), especially for the game of Piquet, whence the name that most manufacturers indicate these cards with.

	LINGUISTIC AREAS n n = German n = French n = Italian n = Romansch	PATTERNS USED n = Swiss-suited Jass n n n = French-suited Jass n = Tresette cards (Lombard pattern)

In Piquet cards the French suit system (Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs and Spades) is adopted, and jacks and queens replace the German Ober/Under knaves. Most collectors prefer to call this pattern "Jass cards with French suits", or Jass Piquet; this appears more appropriate than Piquet alone, also because the French game only requires 32 cards, despite these decks always have 36. Jass Piquet decks, by Dal Negro (Italy, right) and by Carlit-Ravensburger (Germany, below); differences include the outline that frames the subjects, the faces of the courts and their tiny suit sign opposite the large one

The Jass Piquet design differs from other French-suited ones enough to be considered a regional pattern of its own, although it clearly sprang from the French portrait officiel (as suggested by the harp held by the king of Spades). The double-headed courts, which are split horizontally, also share a few details with the French-suited patterns found in Austria, particularly the aces, which are the same ones as in the Vienna I (or "Large Crown") pattern, with a large suit sign in the centre, four small ones in the corners, and no numerals. In other pip cards of the deck, instead, numeric indices overlap the suit signs as negatives (i.e. in white).

AG Müller has recently attempted to modernize also the French-suited pattern; the edition, called Piquet Plus, is shown on the right. As in the Jass Plus with Swiss suits mentined in page 1, the four signs feature light reflections and shadows, so to appear three-dimensional, while the courts considerably differ from their traditional look. Indices are featured in all subjects, and no longer overlap the suit signs. It is unusual for regional patterns to undergo such radical changes; several Swiss players may have wondered whether these modernized editions are fancy variants, rather than new editions of the standard patterns.

Piquet Plus deck by AG Müller

two editions of Combi-Jass (by AG Müller); note the different matches between Swiss and French suits

Not to misplease Jass players nor Piquet players, a special two-way pattern called Combi-Jass has the Swiss-suited design on one side and the French-suited one on the other, in a fashion very similar to German Kongress decks (note that Combi-Jass is a commercial name). The halves are split diagonally, according to the Swiss-suited scheme. Among the known editions, the matches between Swiss and French suits not always correspond. Both samples shown on the left are by AG Müller, yet in the first of the two Acorns and Bells respectively match Clubs and Diamonds, while in the second edition they make the opposite match, i.e. Diamonds and Clubs, respectively.

Lastly, in the Italian-speaking area of Switzerland (Ticino) a particular variety of the Lombarde pattern is used, also described in the Italian page. Their French-suited design is identical to the standard one found in Lombardy, and has the same number of cards (40), same composition (from ace to 7, and three courts), same size and shape, rather long and thin.	Lombard pattern for Ticino, by A.G.Müller, Switzerland

But unlike the original Italian variety, the Swiss one has indices, both numeric (on pip cards) and in letters (on aces and courts). The names of the latter are spelt in full length, in Italian: Fante (knave), Regina (queen) and Re (king). There is no other local name for this pattern but Tresette cards, after the main game played with them.
The same variety is also produced by the main Italian manufacturers, and labelled as Lombarde estero ("foreign design Lombarde").

---

GLOSSARY

			actual translation

SPIELCHARTE	CARTES A JOUER	CARTE DA GIOCO		PLAYING CARDS
SPIEL	JEU	MAZZO		DECK
(1)  FARB	(1)  COULEUR	(2)  SEMI	(1) colours, (2) seeds	SUITS
EICHLE	· · ·	· · ·		ACORNS
SCHILTE	· · ·	· · ·		SHIELDS
ROSE	· · ·	· · ·		ROSES
SCHÄLLE	· · ·	· · ·		BELLS
(1)  EGGE	(2)  CARREAU	QUADRI	(1) corner, (2) squares	DIAMONDS
HERZ	COEUR	CUORI		HEARTS
(1)  CHRÜTZ	(2)  TRÈFLE	(3)  FIORI	(1) cross, (2) clover, (3) flowers	CLUBS
SCHUFLE	(1)  PIQUE	(1)  PICCHE	(1) pikes	SPADES
ASS	ASS	ASSO		ACE
UNDER	· · ·	· · ·	below	LOW RANK KNAVE
OBER	· · ·	· · ·	over	HIGH RANK KNAVE
KÖNIG	ROI	RE		KING
DAME	DAME	REGINA	(1) dame	QUEEN
BUEB	VALET	FANTE		JACK / KNAVE

---

OTHER GALLERIES




or back to

INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY	MULTI-LANGUAGE GLOSSARY	THE FOOL & THE JOKER	INDEX TABLE	REGIONAL GAMES	PLAYING CARD LINKS

---