Cuts for printing Spanish playing cards / Planchas de imprenta (naipes)

These snapshots are from the Museu Frederic Marès in Barcelona. Marès was a Catalan sculptor. His statues speckle Barcelona. You've probably seen them at Montjuic and Pl. Catalunya. His home became a museum. The first floor houses his collection of Spanish figurative sculpture. The rest of it is one big cabinet of curiosities--comprised of anything and everything he could hoard.  

Marès graduated from the school I attended last year, and later in his life, ended up directing it. The story I heard was that his hoarding actually gave birth to the book arts program. He needed somebody to bind all of his paper ephemera and photographs into albums. 

Marès was, apparently, deeply quirky. He'd shuffle around his house/studio/museum, checking on his collections in his nightgown, well into his old age. 

Anyway, I loved seeing these cuts for printing Spanish playing cards there. 

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Hice estas dos fotos en el Museo Marès de Barcelona. La casa de Marès, escultor catalán, se convirtió en museo mientras él vivía, y sigue siéndolo. En la primera planta se expone su colección de escultura hispánica. Las demás plantas son un gran gabinete de curiosidades que contiene todo lo que coleccionaba. 

Marès estudió en La Llotja y llegó a dirigirla. Me contaron que, de la necesidad de encuadernar todos los recuerdos y fotos que guardaba, nació el Conservatorio de las Artes del Libro. 

Marès era no solo excéntrico, sino muy así, andando por la casa-museo en zapatillas de casa para vigilar las colecciones.  

Entre ellas hay unas pocas planchas de imprenta, incluso estas. Son para imprimir los naipes.