This deck is known by almost everyone: bearded kings in sable hats, ladies in kokoshniks, jacks with falcons and berdyshes. It is still produced in mass quantities, and few think about where it came from.

The illustrations were created by the Frankfurt factory Dondorf, one of the best card manufacturers in Europe. The deck in 'Russian taste' is listed in its catalog around 1911. Then the rights passed to the Imperial Card Factory in St. Petersburg, which belonged to the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria and had a monopoly on playing cards. The proceeds from card sales went to charity: orphanages and shelters.

The release is commonly associated with the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, celebrated in 1913. Hence the most famous legend. Allegedly, the faces for the figures were based on participants of a costume ball in 1903 at the Winter Palace, where the court dressed in 17th-century attire. The king of hearts is said to represent Nicholas II in the guise of Alexei Mikhailovich, while the queen of hearts is Alexandra Fyodorovna.

Beautiful, but there is no documentary evidence. Many figures clearly trace back to other sources. For example, the king of spades was drawn from Ivan the Terrible in Alexander Litovchenko's painting 'Ivan the Terrible Shows Treasures to the English Ambassador Gorsey' (1875). Moreover, the eras on the cards are mixed: from Muscovite Russia to Cossack motifs.

Most likely, the deck is not a portrait gallery but a composite image of 'old Russia' as seen by the modernism of the early 20th century. The same language as that of Bilibin and in the decor of the Historical Museum.
The most astonishing thing happened afterward. The empire collapsed, yet its cards survived the revolution, the USSR, and emigration. They were printed in Leningrad and distributed in Paris, Harbin, and Belgrade. Tsars and boyars ultimately remained in every home.