Three of Cups

Kore Persephone

Is it just me or does it look like the woman on the right has three arms? It looks like she is holding her arms up toasting along with the rest of the group, but at the same time is holding a bundle of grapes behind her back. I've never seen this mentioned in any book. Could any of you provide insight?
 

Kore Persephone

No ones respnded...it must be just me. lol
 

rota

(pulls out his everpresent Albano-Waite and riffles thru the deck to find the 3 o' Cups, to examine the woman in question...)

I read that one on the right as holding her cup with her right hand, and holding the fruit of the vine with her left.

I'm counting hands, figuring that the number should be approximately twice the number of figures. I see five hands, and the only one who's being ambiguous is that gal in gray on the left.

All seems to be accounted for except for that one on the left who seems to be hiding something from us... hmmm --
 

spoonbender

hey! I see it too! ... I think it's just a colouring mistake and that it was supposed to be the bottom of the cup of the woman on the right, it couldn't be an arm, because the woman would not only have three arms, but one would be sprouting from her back, and that would be kinda strange, huh :)?
I went to compare at Sacred Texts because the site used to have black-and-white images, but now it's in colour, so that wasn't much of a help! I also looked at the Universal Waite, and it's coloured correctly there (that is: yellow and not pink)
that was what you were referring to, right?

Spoonbender

edited to correct some mistakes I made
 

Major Tom

rota said:
I read that one on the right as holding her cup with her right hand, and holding the fruit of the vine with her left.

I'm counting hands, figuring that the number should be approximately twice the number of figures. I see five hands, and the only one who's being ambiguous is that gal in gray on the left.

All seems to be accounted for except for that one on the left who seems to be hiding something from us... hmmm --

I've got the "Original" Rider Waite and I see it the same way as my friend Rota.

I think the only reason we don't see the right arm of the woman on the left is the angle she's standing. But, why is she holding her cup with her left hand when the others are holding theirs with the right?

Also, couldn't the figure in front, whose back is facing us be a man? The hair is smooth and the costume is quite different from the women we can see.
 

Haniel

Kore Persephone said:
Is it just me or does it look like the woman on the right has three arms?

Ha! I think that that was a keen observation.

But, if one looks closely (I've the 1971 US Games deck) it is clear . . .Two Arms.
 

Emily

I've just looked at the Original Rider Waite, US Games 1971, and its not really obvious on there at all, but on the pocket Rider Waite it looks like a colouring error. To the right of her face instead of blue sky its been painted the same colour as the skin.
Its the feet of the lady holding the grapes that gets me, her feet face one way and her upper body is twisted to the left - looks painful lol Going to check the Universal Waite to see what it looke like on that one.
 

DesertHowler

three celebrating women

Emily said:

Its the feet of the lady holding the grapes that gets me, her feet face one way and her upper body is twisted to the left - looks painful lol Going to check the Universal Waite to see what it looke like on that one.
According to my Universal Waite, none of them looks very comfortable in their positions. Maybe the celebration has been going on for quite a while:)
DH
 

Moongold

I see the woman in question holding the cup in her right hand and the bunch of grapes in her left and facing outwards.

This position (!) is quite consistent until you look at the one foot you can clearly see, which appears to be turned in the wrong direction for this stance.

Pixie Colman Smith's sense of perspective and proportion is sometimes a bit distorted in different cards throughout the RWS deck. The 6 Cups is another example where you do wonder what is intended.

I sometimes question whether these idiosyncracies are part of a quixotic style or simply a visual joke. Perhaps, for Pixie Colman Smith, they had a particular meaning.
 

Emily

I've often wondered about that too, Moongold - she was such a talented artist and some of the cards in the Waite just don't do her justice. The shoes on the figure in the 7 Wands, one shoe and one boot - and yet if it has a hidden meaning, well its been very well hidden lol