King of Spades Dondorf Shakespeare antique playing card - stock photo

This is the King of Spades from a well-known deck of vintage /antique (19th century) playing cards. It was printed in chromolithography by Bernard (Bernhard) Dondorf from Frankfurt aM, Germany, and the deck included characters from Shakespeare's plays as face cards. The King of Spades is illustrated as Claudius, King of Denmark from the play (Hamlet). Bernard (Bernhard) Dondorf opened a lithographic printing business in 1833, first producing playing cards in 1839. His playing cards were popular for their designs and overall quality. He retired from the business in 1872 after producing popular and widely-copied designs for many years.