This wonderful, colorful deck was printed in chromolithography and published by B.P. Grimaud from Paris as "Cartes Indiennes" in 1890. The courts all show Indian figures as Kings, Queens and Jacks and they are set against a floral background design. On the number cards we also find a floral design in the background, which gives the deck an Art Nouveau look. The Whist deck of 52 cards has gold edges and there are some gold printed details on the courts too. It was obviously a luxury edition.

"Pekelna Horugva” (Пекельна хоругва in Ukranian which means Hell banner or flag of Hell) is the second deck designed by Ukrainian illustrator Vladislav Erko, manufactured by Nage Cards, Saint-Petersburg, 2012. Vladislav Erko is noted for his beautiful artwork in children’s fairy tale books, as well as his earlier deck for “Taras Bulba” the Moscow restaurant which serves traditional national cuisine. In this second deck, which also contains some culinary references, the imagery has turned rather grim and appears to be based on the mystical works of Nikolai Gogol expressing ethnic and nationalist themes, including death.

This entry is for the original printing of the deck printed by Nage Cards (http://www.nage-cards.ru/) that is a larger size (2.767" X 4.130") and features the original card back and thumb slot tuck compared to the reprints that were made after which had a modified tuck, standard bridge size and a new simpler back  (from the artist's Alice in Wonderland work for some strange reason).

http://www.wopc.co.uk/russia/pekelna-horugva.html

http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/decks15/d13217/d13217.htm

“Korchma Taras Bulba”   ( 2005 )

This is the first of two decks designed by famous Ukrainian illustrator Vladislav Erko specially for “Korchma Taras Bulba” - the restaurant in Moscow which specializes in traditional Ukrainian cuisine. Taras Bulba is the protagonist of the romanticized historical short story by Nikolai Gogol about the life of an old Zaporozhian Cossack, Taras Bulba, and his two sons. The cards feature figures based on authentic traditional Ukrainian costumes in exquisite detail, including traditional tools and musical instruments.

There have been several editions of the deck. The second edition (2011) has modified suit symbols, a different box and back design, gold printing and an overall richer feel.

 

http://www.wopc.co.uk/russia/korchma-taras-bulba.html

Venexiana Gold also won the Best Innovation on a Deck of Playing Cards award from UnitedCardists 2014 Deck of the Year http://unitedcardists.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6448