Brown Dots On Ancient Tarots Of Bologna

Abrac

Does anyone know what's up with the brown dots on this deck? They seem to have been put there deliberately.

I searched the forum a little but didn't find any discussion on it, so before I spent all day looking I thought I would just ask. Does anyone know what they are, or maybe have a link to a previous discussion?

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/ancient-bologna/

Thanks,

-Abrac
 

firecatpickles

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dandelion

Do you think perhaps it could be representative of "ether"?

Although they do seem to follow a specific pattern, don't they? Curious indeed!
 

jmd

They simply seem to me to be artistic license to bring the cards to greater 'life', rather than flat 2-D stock.
 

venicebard

I would agree with JMD, though they may at the same time have been thought of as representing raw matter's (or aether's?) conforming or not conforming to the matter at hand, sometimes mere haphazard space-fill but sometimes actual forms, such as the oval aura or halo of the woman in 'LE TOILLE'.
 

thinbuddha

Probably as JMD says, BUT.....

I can see reading these cards together and if you squint in just the right way, you can connect the dots into patterns & pictures the way the stars make up constellations.... May add another element to your readings.

This is actually something that I have toy'd with including on my own deck (still on the fence as to whether I'll do it or not. I may have to buy this deck and see how I like it).

-tb
 

Rosanne

As these cards are historical reproductions from used cards, with the usual inconsistencies of mass printing of the time- the marks have been kept to illustrate age and authenticity. Probably were, splashes of beer, tea and coffee and the like. You must not forget cards did not have a waterproof finish as they do today. It does give the required look of indeterminate age though and as jmd said somewhat 3D in stead of flat.~Rosanne
 

thinbuddha

I don't buy the beer stain theory. Those look like deliberate brush strokes to me. Check out the Star card- those marks form an auora around the figure depicted in the card....
 

firecatpickles

I was thinking that it could be some sort of mildew stains. But then why are they practically identical in both the Tarots and the Minchiate from the same period and location?
 

Rosanne

Good Point kilts Knave! I looked again as Thinbuddha suggested and they do look 'meant to be'. On saying that could they be on the woodblock itself? Like imperfections in the carving that were going to be something else like a halo on the Star. I do not think every woodblock was carved by a master. Also even when you are very careful with a stamp process- unintentional things happen and then get copied. Woodblock printing was perfected in the east for many hundreds of years before the skill came West.~Rosanne