my playing card collection
Derzhava: Imperial Russia
GRIGORIY POTEMKIN
(Григо́рий )
GRIGORI RASPUTIN
(Григорий)
An accomplished design with a restricted colour palette and well integrated double heads. The figure illustrations extend beyond the oblong boundaries in an interesting way and are mostly recognisable as the historical characters they represent. The number cards are also an interesting and unusual design.
Knowing nothing of Russian history nor cyrillic script, it was not easy to identify the people, nor decipher the stylised names on the cards. I hope I have got it right. Any comments or corrections please contact me through the links page.
Держава
THE JOKERS
Prince Grigoriy Aleksandrovich Potyomkin-Tavricheskiy 1739-1791, was a Russian military leader, statesman, nobleman and one of Catherine the Great's lovers.
Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин-Таври́ческий
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian peasant, a zealous religious convert and became a mystical faith healer and private adviser to the Romanovs, Nicolas II and his wife Alexandria. He was assasinated in 1916.
Григорий Ефимович Распутин
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Printed in Malaysia by Yong Guan Heng & Co. for "Nesterov & Co", Russia
Russia
V.Okladnikova, V.Gusev & J.Koporulin
1993
55 (52 + 2J + 1), 89 x 58
International
#98
IVAN IV : THE TERRIBLE
(иван IIII)
ANASTASIA ROMANOVNA (анастасия)
OPRICHNIK
(опричник)
IVAN THE TERRIBLE, Tsar of all the Russians 1547 -28 and his wife Anastasia.
The Oprichnik, Ivan's death squad . Responsible for the1570 massacre of Novgorod among others.
PETER 1
(Питер)
CATHERINE 1
(Екатерина 1)
GRENADIER
(гренадер)
Peter The Great, Tsar of all the Russians 1682-1721and Emporer of all the Russians 1721-1725. Catherine 1, the second wife of Peter I of Russia, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1725 until her death in 1727. Catherine was the first woman to rule Imperial Russia, opening the legal path for a century almost entirely dominated by women. Grenadiers were part of the Preobrazhensky Regiment created by Peter The Great.
ALEXANDER I
(Александр 1)
CATHERINE II: THE GREAT
(Екатерина II)
HUSSAR
(гусар)
Catherine II, Catherine The Great, was the most renowned and the longest-ruling female leader of Russia from 1762-96. In 1762 the Leib Guard revolted, deposed her husband Peter III from power, and proclaimed Catherine the new monarch. The bloodless coup d'état succeeded although Peter was subsequently assassinated.
Alexander I, Empeor of Russia 1801-1825, grandson of Catherine The Great.
The Hussars were a light cavalry unit of the Russian Imperial Army set up originally by Peter The Great.
NICOLAS II
(Николай II)
ALEXANDRA FEODOROVNA
(Александра)
YUNKER
(Юнкер)
Nicolas II was the last Emperor of Russia, 1894-1917. He abdicated in 1917 and was executed together with his family by the Bolsheviks in 1918. The family were all canonised in 1981, as martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, and later by the Church within Russia.
Yunker or Junker was the rank for a volunteer at military service (вольноопределяющийся, volno-opredelyayuščiysya) in the Russian Navy in 19th and 20th centuries
HEARTS
Order of St Vladimir
Established in 1782 by Catherine II, The Great
Red sash with wide black edging
DIAMONDS
Order of St George
Established in 1769 by Catherine II , The Great
Black and orange stripe
CLUBS
Order of St Alexander Nevsky
Established in 1735 by Catherine 1
Plain red sash
The title in red above reads DERZHAVA which means power; from the Old Russian d’rzha, “dominion”. or “might”. *
Держава
*
(1) A term denoting an independent sovereign state, as in the expression “the Great Powers.”
(2) In the Russian state, a golden orb with a cross or crown, which symbolized the monarch’s authority.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979).
The Imperial Orb was made of the so called "red gold" for the Empress Catherine II the Great's Coronation in 1762.
Reference #98. 2014