​​my playing card collection

Aluette is a card game played in South-Western France using a 48 card latin-suited deck. The game Aluette (or La Vache, which means a cow in French) was documented in the sixteenth century by Francois Rabelais, author of Gargantua and Pantagruel. Some people believe it is older than this because of the use of a Spanish styled deck. The French styled deck came out in the fifteenth century, and would have been more likely to be used then, instead of a Spanish deck. Interesting that the French appear to have introduced women cavaliers in the early 19th century (more obviously women in the earlier deck). See Aluette c.1890. 

This is an easy trick taking game for 2 or 4 players in partnerships where there is no trump suit and no obligation to follow suit. Patrners communicate with a fixed system of gestures, for example raising the eyes, winking, or miming a "moo" for La Vache, the two of cups. The winner of a trick, is the person who plays the highest ranking card. In the case of a tie, the trick is set aside, and the winner of the next trick takes both tricks. The object of the standard game is to get the most tricks. Information on the rules of the game can be found here  http://www.pagat.com/put/aluette.html#other   and here http://www.renfesthq.com/renaissance-games/aluette/    

Information on the history and elvolution of the card design can be found here http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluette and here http://www.aluette.net/