Research

I have found these six books while doing research, and they were very helpful in getting more information about stećci and the decorative motifs used. These books had images that I couldn’t find any other place on the internet, as well as thematically organized motifs and sketches.

Jack/Žandar

The Jack/Žandar card is based on the stećak from Radimlja, from the 13th century. Radimlja is a stećak necropolis located near Stolac, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The symbol I picked for this card is a rosette, which are often found on stećci, either alone or arranged as ornaments/borders, and they come in many different styles.

Queen/Kraljica

The Queen/Kraljica card was based on queen Jelena Gruba’s stone chair. It has a beautiful floral relief and the queen on the side, with more details visible on the postal stamp I found while looking for additional resources. The symbol I picked represents grapevine, which is thought to be symbolic of femininity. I also had to find a solution for the letter K, since both king and queen start with a K in Bosnian. One of the bosančica sources listed many different variants of the same letter that were used on stećci, so I used two different variations as the solution.

To create the King/Kralj card, I combined elements from different sources. The first source I found was the stamp of king Tvrtko, from which I referenced the crown and sceptre, both featuring the Bosnian lily (Lilium bosniacum). This flower was and still is used as a state symbol, so I thought it was important to use it as a suit.

Because the anatomy of people found on stećci was often stylized, I decided to reference the sketch I found in one of the books, depicting a warrior with broad shoulders.

The Box

I decided to name my card deck by Mak Dizdar’s poetry book inspired by stećci inscriptions, titled Kameni spavač (Stone Sleeper).  That part of the text on the front of the box is a bit more prominent so it stands out from the rest of the inscription.
The text in bosančica on the cover reads: Ase leži dobri čovjek i heroj kameni spavač i njegove karte//Here lies a good man and hero stone sleeper and his cards. I found that a lot of the stećci inscriptions began with ase leži and then described the person in a few words.
The figure depicted on the stećak from Bratunac looked like it was peacefully sleeping. I paired with the text and placed it above his head, like the Guest Milutin’s stećak.

The side of the box shows people dancing the traditional kolo, often found on many stećci. This one in particular has both women and men.
The back of the box features the name of the deck and a short description in bosančica, Bosnian, and English.

The back of the card is inspired by this detailed relief on a stećak from Donja Zgošća, near Kakanj, dating from around the 15th century. Hunting scenes and people riding horses were often found on stećci, but rarely this well preserved.