From the 'World of Playing Cards': These fantasy designs imitating late medieval costumes were published by B. Dondorf in Germany in various editions between 1889-1933 as Mittelalter No.150, 151 and 135, as either 36-card Piquet decks or 52-card Whist decks. At first there were no indices, but after 1906 corner indices were added (A, K, D, B). Usually there was no Joker. One or two of the court figures can be recognised from other Dondorf decks, for example the Queen of Diamonds holding a peacock feather or the Jack of Hearts with a falcon. This and other Dondorf packs (e.g. ‘Baronesse’) were imported and sold in England under the name ‘Unique Playing Cards’ by Edward Hamilton, later Hamilton, Hills & Co., London E.C. The designs were also copied by J.J. Nunes of Lisbon as ‘Whist No.32’.

From 'The World of Playing Cards' : Schweizer Trachten Whist No.174 (Swiss Costumes) printed by Dondorf, featuring scenic aces and traditional costumes with different views at each end. Various editions of this deck were published in chromolithography, with alternative back designs, between 1906-1933. The jacks and queens show young men and women wearing costumes of individual cantons. The four kings, with flowing beards and crowns above their suit signs, are senior officials from the four Swiss cities of Zurich, Geneva, Bern and Basel. The labels are on wavy banners, except on the aces they are angular.

From the 'World of Playing Cards' : This pack was probably the culmination of a mixture of designs from 19th century Germany which emerged as one of Dondorf's more popular house patterns by around 1900. The four Kings each have white wavy hair and beards, giving rise to the nickname “Jewish Pattern”. Its popularity was increased by its being widely used and copied by Austrian, Belgian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese and other manufacturers, some of whom created new variants. Some versions have scenic Aces (historical or geographical) which vary from pack to pack; others have plain Aces. The pattern continued to be produced after the takeover by V.A.S.S. in 1933.