Cups (suit)

Last updated
Cups
Seme di coppe carte trentine.svg
Symbol from Trentine pattern
Native names
Decks
Invented15th century
The suit of cups from an 18th-century Venetian pack Carte veneziane - coppe - Museo Correr - Cl. XXX n. 0084.jpg
The suit of cups from an 18th-century Venetian pack

The suit of cups is one of the four card suits used in Latin-suited playing cards alongside coins, swords and batons. These suits are used in Spanish, Italian and some tarot card packs.

Contents

Symbol on Italian pattern cards: Seme coppe carte bergamasche.svg    Symbol on Spanish pattern cards: Seme coppe carte napoletane.svg Symbol on French Aluette Spanish pattern cards: Seme coppe carte aluette.svg

Characteristics

The suit of cups is believed to have derived from Chinese money-suited cards' Myriads of Strings of cash coins suit. When the cards came into contact with the Islamic world, the Muslims adopted and renamed the suit of myriads as cups. This may have been due to the simplified Chinese character for "myriad" ( ) being seen as upside-down. Mahjong maintains the myriad suit by using the traditional form of the character ( ).

In Spain, the suit of cups is known as copas and the court cards are known as the rey (king), caballo (knight or cavalier) and sota (knave or valet). The Spanish play with packs of 40 or 48 cards. There are no tens and, in the shorter pack, the nines and eights are also dropped. Thus the suit of cups ranks: R C S (9 8) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. In Italy the suit is known as coppe and the corresponding court cards are the re, cavallo and fante. Either 40 or 52-card packs are used. In the shorter packs, the tens, nines and eights are removed. Card ranking is thus: R C F (10 9 8) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. [1]

In 1588, at the request of publisher Leonhardt Heussler in Nuremberg, Germany, the Swiss-German artist Jost Amman created a deck of cards where two of the four suits are cups. One set of cups are straight/cylindrical, more akin to drinking vessels. The other set of cups are round/spherical, more akin to pots. Like other early German decks, the 10 rank is represented by a Banner, and the court cards are the Unter, Ober, and King. Many of the cards feature fanciful illustrations demonstrating the artist's skill (a trend started by the Italian tarot). [2] [3]

Portuguese-suited playing cards were traded to Japan in the mid-16th century which influenced the development of Karuta where the 48-card Komatsufuda and 75-card Unsun Karuta decks still maintain this suit.

Spanish pattern

The gallery below shows a suit of cups from a Spanish-suited deck of 48 cards. The pack is of the Castilian pattern:

Italian pattern

The gallery below shows a suit of cups from an Italian-suited deck of 52 cards. The pack is of the Bresciane pattern:

Komatsufuda pattern

The image below shows a suit of cups from a Komatsufuda deck of 48 cards:

Xiao Song Zha .png
Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Knave, Knight, King

Unsun karuta pattern

The image below shows a suit of cups from an Unsun karuta deck of 75 cards:

unsunkaruta.png
Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Knight, King, Female Knave, Sun, Un, Dragon

Individual cards

The suit of goblets, also known as cups, is one of several suits of many tarot card packs used in tarot card readings and cartomancy.

See also

References

  1. Parlett 2008, p. xv.
  2. Pollet, Andrea. "THE DECK BY JOST AMMAN". Andy's Playing Cards. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  3. Wintle, Simon (July 3, 1996). "The Book of Trades by Jost Amman, 1588". The World of Playing Cards. Retrieved August 25, 2024.

Literature