This card is one of four survivors of the Animal suit of Small Playing Cards by Master ES.4 A sec~ ond court card, the low Knave, also exists (Fig. 112). Among the most forceful of wild folk images, the wild man of the low Knave is shown taming a bear with mace and cudgel, a reiteration of the theme of the wild man's mastery over animals (see no. 30). This he achieves sometimes through physical violence, which is reinforced by the animals' instinctive awareness of the wild folk's superiority and kinship. In the ES playing cards, the unicorn and bear acknowledge the rulers of the wild kingdom. In 1463 Master ES engraved a second, larger set of cards. 5 Wild men in this deck represent the court figures in the Bird suit. In the low Knave of Birds, the wild man, without bridle or saddle, con~ trols his unicorn mount by its mane and tail. 6 The unicorn accommodates its overlord by serving as his steed, a service wild folk frequently demanded from their "subjects" (see nos. 35, 36). Before Master ES designed his cards, the Master of the Playing Cards, active from about 1435 to 1455 in the Upper Rhine, engraved a handsome set of five suits: men, flowers, birds, deer, and beasts of prey. 7 In this set leafy creatures join con~ ventional hirsute wild folk. Closely related to Fig. 112 Low Knave of Animals from the Small Playing Cards. Engraving by Master ES (retouched by wood nymphs, the leafy folk manifest neither the lsrahel van Meckenem). Germany, about 1461. attributes nor personality of the traditional hir~ Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, PA 1306. Photo sute wild man. On the Wild Five (Fig. 113), for ex~ copyright Ashmolean Museum, Oxford ample, the leafy sprite in the lower left of the card strums a musical instrument, while the hirsute wild men surround and threaten his relative in the upper left corner. Interestingly, humans, the wild folk's superiors, are represented on the court cards of the Master of the Playing Card's suit of men. Based on this deck, Bernheimer's theory that subhuman creatures are displayed on suit cards and secular society on court cards seems correct.8

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