Marseille - Roy de Deniers (King of Coins)

[jmd]

Here is the only King depicted with singularly peculiar tones:

• His 'throne' appears to be an outdoor portable type;
• his legs are crossed as are the Emperor's;
• he is the only King without a Crown!

In addition, his gaze is also the most pronounced to a side of any of the four Kings.

With the Camoin deck (a rare representation with that additional floating Disk), his gaze could be described as transfixed upon the apparition, reminding me of the Fisher King of Grail tradition - could that be why he is holding the disk-solve and what appears to be a cooling fan-like item in front of his wound?

Irrespective, here is a man of outdoors, surveying his land by being within them. Though not the oldest King in appearance, he certainly gives the allusion of being an older King.

For myself, I tend, when using the MBTI, to associate this King with ESTJ, indicating that, though a decision based on Logic is required, a hard look at the facts, in consultation with others, is desirable.

[Diana]

Hey, I had never noticed that this King has a portable outdoor throne. A kind of a royal deck-chair! So he's sitting outdoors probably. Makes sense, seeing as he's the King of Coins - which after all do represent the earth and earthy things.

Apart from the other observations that jmd has made, (and leaving aside the Camoin king with the floating coin), I get the impression that he is not particularly interested in his Denier. It's not as if he takes it for granted, on the contrary, but that he has surpassed it a little and can now relax and enjoy the fruits of his discoveries. He doesn't look like he's really so interested in the power that being a King provides him with. Titles and such things are not so important. Even his clothes are not so fancy. In fact, the Denier that he holds is slightly smaller than most of other Deniers in the other Courts.

Friendly guy. I wonder what he's gazing at, surveying his lands by being within them, as jmd suggests? Or is he just watching a deer peeping out from behind the trees?

[ihcoyc]

If that is, indeed, a sort of folding outdoor throne, it has a distinguished ancestry. It may well be meant to represent a curule chair, a Roman symbol of solid probity and sound government. Before the rise of the Roman republic, it was associated with kingship.

It may be that the artist wished to invoke this symbol of classical authority in the King of Coins.

[Kissa]

Hadar's Roy de Deniers is very much indoors, yet sitting on his weird throne but the floor looks exactly the same as on other Kings cards. I was pretty disappointed as I thought it was really interesting to have a "close to its ppl/lands" Roy de Deniers ... like in Camoin.

Hum.. maybe someone who have connections (Diana ?? ;-) ) could ask Hadar why he chose to trap his king indoors ?

Kissa

[jmd]

Thanks for those references to the Curule Roman throne, ihcoyc.

Kissa, when I look at my Hadar, one of its striking features is the way Kris has brought a uniformity to the Courts.

For example, all his knights have black soil, all his valets have a straight flat ground... but let's turn to the Kings, as this is this thread.

Even on the Hadar deck, the Deniers King is the only one on a Throne which seems legged (and portable). Even the background seems the only one which can reasonably easily be seen as fields (the other three Kings' background is too 'structured' for this): the green of some fields and the soil, tilled, of others.

Since we're on the Hadar, his head-dress has always appeared to me quite strange, as though it was a little bat-wing-like... I would certainly like to know why he designed this, quite inconsistent (though having similarities) with other Marseilles renditions.

[Phoenix]

Hmmm...I haven't noticed the throne either. He does look like he is outsidem situated on the earth. Could there be any corrolation between this card, and the modern association of pentacles/coins with the element of earth?