Musha & Goketsu revolves around the intricate and colourful visual elements of Musha-e, traditional Japanese woodblock printing featuring portrayals of warrior figures, and the equally colourful characters of Suikoden, a tale of a band of Robin Hood-esque hero bandits.
Full Deck Scan: https://cardscans.piwigo.com/index?/category/449-musha
Artwork inspired by the 18th century novel A Dream of Red Mansions, also translated as Dream of the Red Chamber or The Story of the Stone, by Cao Xueqin. 1 way faces, art repeats across the suits.
The English version of "A Dream of Red Mansions" is the first classical novel translated and published by Foreign Languages Press. The translation and editing work began in the early 1960s and lasted for nearly 14 years until the first volume of its English version was published in 1978. As the book's editor, I get emotional whenever I recall that journey. However, this difficult period also taught me what I needed to learn about foreign publishing, and turned a young college graduate into a competent editor.
Novelties MFG, & Sales Corp., St Louis, MO // 1954
Vintage - 1950 - 1960's Fifty-Two Art Studies Nude Pin-Up Playing Cards
These are The 1954 Original WP Fifty-Two Art Studies Cards, Made in the USA and distributed by Novelties MFG, & Sales Corp., St. Louis, MO.
They are also all plastic coated to protect the cards.
Original Deck has 54 Cards.
(13) Playing Cards of each Suit (Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs & Spades), for (52) + (2) Jokers.
The main Joker Card features a Photographer, in a Black Beret and Reds Checked Overcoat, standing behind a large Box Camera on a tall Tripod.
The “Extra” Joker has an introduction that reads: “ For the Approval of the discriminating Artist and connoisseur of art, Fifty-Two separate and Distinct Studies. These are examples of modern photography at its finest and should prove invaluable in discussions, forums, etc. ”, followed by a guarantee statement.
These are standard size playing cards and the Front of each individual card has a FULL COLOR Photograph of a Nude Pin-Up Model of the 1940s & 1950s (including Betty Paige ).
The Back of each card has a colorful rendering featuring the likeness of a vintage camera. It has a red Background with (2) Camera Lenses, complete with numbers of each lens.