Bull's Head and Mermaid - The Bernstein Project - Österreichische ...

quired by the Weingarten Abbey by way of the Cathedral
of Constance library.
At the beginning of the manuscript there are a few blank
pages (sheets 1rv, 2v-10r). On these sheets the watermark
type “Bull’s head with eyes, nose and mouth, single stem
and seven-lobed flower” is immediately visible. Tracings of
this watermark are particularly easy to make. For an identical
form of this “Bull’s head” with its various embellishments,
Gerhard Piccard refers to XII No. 981 in his Findbuch
“Ochsenkopf”. This type of Bull’s head is documented as
having been used in the years 1439 to 1443.
This manuscript also contains pages with the watermark
“Hand with five-pointed star”, whose provenance Piccard
posits as Upper Italy. Since it is identical to a watermark
found in a court record dated to 1442, and taking the
analysis of the Bull’s head watermark into consideration,
Piccard has dated the manuscript to the period between
1439 and 1442.
Literature: Bautz, Felix Hemmerli(n); Buhl / Kurras, Die
Handschriften der ehemaligen Hofbibliothek Stuttgart,
Bd. 4,2.
C.K. (C.P.-K.)
IV 5 Distinctiones
[1467–1469]
Paper, 27 x 20 cm, 256 Sheets (here: Sheets 192r-197v)
WLB Stuttgart HB VIII 1
Sheet 197 (Watermark: “Coat of arms with lily”)
This manuscript, in two hands, was written in a typical
“Humanistica” script. Of particular interest are the Greek
words appended to the Latin text. The text contains texts
by the philosopher and grammarian Nonius Marcellus, by
Marcus Terentius Varro and by Sextus Pompeius Festus,
who is found in records in France from the second century
AD.
Sheet 197 contains the conclusion of the so-called Distinctiones.
This genre of text was used in scholastic theology
and philosophy to analyze and note differences between
opposing teachings and authorities based on the scholastic
principle of “sic et non”. Piccard describes the text as having
been written on paper made in eastern France containing,
among others, a heraldry watermark – three lilies in a
crowned shield – to which the sign of the paper’s producer
is attached. Briquet lists this coat of arms under No. 1834,
and describes it as being from Paris and Pontoise, both cases
dating to 1468. In Piccard’s expertise on the manuscript,
he identifies all the watermarks it contains (Ill. IV 5a) – in
addition, the watermarks “Letter P”, “Mermaid” (siren)
and “Letter B” – and dates it as having been written most
probably between 1467 and 1469. The manuscript, on various
papers from eastern and northern France, was most
likely written entirely in France.
Literature: Buhl, Die Handschriften der ehemaligen Hofbibliothek
Stuttgart, Bd. 4,1.
C.K. (C.P.-K.)
IV 6a
IV 6 The Stuttgart Deck of Cards
[about 1430]
Paper, 49 cards with miniatures, 19 x 12 cm
Facsimile from the Deutsches Spielkartenmuseum
Leinfelden-Echterdingen
(selection)
The “Stuttgart Deck of Cards” is considered as one of the oldest
existant European card games. Made around 1430 in
southwest Germany, it was originally in the possession of the
Duke of Bavaria, becoming the property of the House of Württemberg
in the 17 th century. It is clear that the cards were well
used. Nevertheless, it remains unclear how the game was
played, as very little is known about games in that period.
The dating of the famous deck of cards was long disputed.
Only an analysis of the watermarks, undertaken by Gerhard
Piccard in 1958, provided clear indications that it was
produced around 1430. This date is corroborated by the
clothing of the figures portrayed on the cards. By examining
the reverse side of two cards using a bright light, Piccard
discovered a characteristic hunting horn watermark that
was the sign of a Ravensburg paper mill. On the basis of a
number of identical watermarks in his collection, he was
able to show that the paper used for the Stuttgart Deck of
Cards was in circulation between 1427 and 1431, especially
in south-western Germany, thus providing a clear timeframe
and region for the deck’s production.
Literature: Meurer, Das Stuttgarter Kartenspiel; Sporhan-
Krempel, Das “Stuttgarter Kartenspiel”; Rückert, Antonia
Visconti, 161f.
P.R. (C.P.-K.)
59