Tarot de Trieste; the forgotten deck

<disgusted> Gregory, get over it. Didn't le Fanu say the cards were riddled with Black Plague? Well, be happy that it's going to sweep through Lisbon, not the Pennines! He's welcome to his scabby, diseased deck.

*ahem*

*ahem yourself* I THINK I have a set coming too !

nisaba said:

<disgusted> Gregory, get over it. Didn't le Fanu say the cards were riddled with Black Plague? Well, be happy that it's going to sweep through Lisbon, not the Pennines! He's welcome to his scabby, diseased deck

Click to expand...

Well, the plague is now in Lisbon and my pox-riddled deck arrived today!

And please don't all scream for scans; there are some perfectly nice scans over at Albideuter.

It is a lovely deck. What more can I say? Nice cardstock, not too thick, not too flimsy. Probably similar to the LoS cardstock, gently laminated like LoS. A nice size; nicely compact; 11cm x 5.5cm, sharp images, discreetly stamped backs, nothing fancy (best sort), and the fronts you can see on Albideuters. A good quality historical reproduction. Must be from near Bologna. I don't know much about geography, but I think I know that Trieste isn't in Bologna... It also reminds me of an unnamed 17th Century deck I have in my collection which was published by the Fournier Museum, and which also looks like it comes from Bologna but is in fact from Venice

But this is a very dinky little deck, it really is. Mine came without a box. I don't know if that means anything...

Does this help? Complete with map.

Congrats on your new deck!

Astraea Aurora

ooh thank you! (the shame!) So it really is quite near Venice and probably Bologna. Well it's Italy which says it all really...

(why did I think it was Switzerland?)

All I knew about it is that James Joyce died there...

<cackle> A recent victim of the Plague?

Le Fanu said:

It is a lovely deck. What more can I say? Nice cardstock, not too thick, not too flimsy. Probably similar to the LoS cardstock, gently laminated like LoS. A nice size; nicely compact; 11cm x 5.5cm,

Click to expand...

That's tiny! I just dragged out my LS ancient tarots of bologna today, thinking how small it is - but it's bigger than what you've listed.

Le Fanu said:

sharp images, discreetly stamped backs, nothing fancy (best sort), and the fronts you can see on Albideuters. A good quality historical reproduction. Must be from near Bologna. I don't know much about geography, but I think I know that Trieste isn't in Bologna... It also reminds me of an unnamed 17th Century deck I have in my collection which was published by the Fournier Museum, and which also looks like it comes from Bologna but is in fact from Venice

Click to expand...

I got out my ATof Bologna because I thought that the expressions (and colors) seemed similar. They're similar, but not the same.

Le Fanu said:

But this is a very dinky little deck, it really is. Mine came without a box. I don't know if that means anything...

Click to expand...

Mine's coming without a box, as well, and I'm very psyched about it, even if it is small. It's bigger than the mini Jodo/Camoin, so it's definitely big enough to use. It's also bigger than the Tarot of Trees, which is playing-card size.

I cannot *wait* for mine!

SolSionnach said:

I just bought a copy from an ATer in Germany! Yes!

ETA: who may be able to get more...

Click to expand...

If I had the money, I'd be making enquiries.

Paul Huson's "Mystical origins of the tarot" (p. 281) seems to categorize the TdT as belonging to the Lombardy pattern and gives as characteristic features:

the Devil generally wears a pair of furry pants, the Moon is depicted full face, Justice is winged, the Ace of Cups is depicted as a Gothic font, and the King and Queen of Coins wear unmistakeable and idiosyncratic crowns.

Click to expand...

Furry pants on Devil: check
full-face Moon: check
winged Justice: check
Gothic font: hmm, probably, I am not sure
Crowns: what do you think?

Huson continues:

Examples of decks using this pattern were produced by card makers in Bologna, Modena, Padua, and Trieste, among other places.

Click to expand...

Niclas said:

Paul Huson's "Mystical origins of the tarot" (p. 281) seems to categorize the TdT as belonging to the Lombardy pattern and gives as characteristic features

Click to expand...

Oh goody! I have Huson's book on the way, so I can refer properly. When I get home, I shall check out these details which you mention. One thing I did notice, is that the Empress's face is very personalised; a rudimentary portrait technique is used, as if her head is slightly turned, giving it personality. It isn't stilted/ flat/ head-on.

I love the deck. It is small, but wonderfully small. Not one of those "shuffle and it end up on the floor" mini decks.

There are some wonderful details in this deck. I laid it out last night and it's been a long time since a historic deck intrigued me so much with its expressions... Loads of "new" little details to focus on...