JJ Grandville and Lenormand

[Pagan X]

Grandville as illustrator of a "la Sybille des Salons" prior to 1828:

From the Encyclopedia Brittanica:

GÉRARD, JEAN IGNACE ISIDORE (1803-1847), French
caricaturist, generally known by the pseudonym of Grandville—
the professional name of his grandparents, who were actors—
was born at Nancy on the i3th of September 1803. He received
his first instruction in drawing from his father, a miniature
painter, and at the age of twenty-one came to Paris, where he
soon afterwards published a collection of lithographs entitled
Les Tribulations de la petite propriété. He followed this by Les
Plaisirs de toutâge and La Sibylle des salons; but the work
which first established • his fame was Métamorphoses du jour,
published in 1828, a series of seventy scenes in which individuals
with the bodies of men and faces of animals are made to play a
human comedy.

For sale by a Japanese bookseller:

Grandville (J.J.)La Sibylle des Salons.
n.p. (Paris), n.d. (c.1848). 2nd ed. of Granville's The Prophetess of the Living Room. 52 playing/tarot cards and 1blanck. 11.3 x 7.7 cm. Each with a hnd-colored lithograoh by Grandville. Housed in a contemporary marbled card board box lacking bottom and one side. A complete set, with hints of wear.

JPY 1,250,000.00 > other currencies ordernr.: Y07101490 bookseller: The Isseido Booksellers (JAPAN)

For sale by a German card dealer:

Without box!

10442 - Sibylle des Salons, Grimaud, c. 10442 - Sibylle of the salons, Grimaud, c. 1890. 1890. Design: 1828 Grandville (Jean Ignace-Isidore Gérard, 15.9.1803 Nancy - 17.3.1847 Vanves). Design: 1828 Grandville (Jean-Ignace Isidore Gérard, 15.9.1803 Nancy - Vanves 17.3.1847). Litho. Litho. 7,8 x 11,4. 7.8 x 11.4. 52 Blatt. 52 sheet. Steuerstempel "1890". Tax stamp "1890". Bespielt. Recording. Cary 225 - Fournier 361 - HK 40 - Jensen 2.6 Cary 225 - Fournier 361 - HK 40 - Jensen 2.6

280 Euro 280 euros

M.lle Lenormand as the Sibylle des Salons:

One of the most celebrated fortune-tellers of the time was Mademoiselle Lenormand, who built up a considerable fortune by paying careful attention to her public image. During her career, M.lle Lenormand’s clients included men of such stature as Robespierre, Marat, Danton, Napoleon Bonaparte; she also became the confidant of the Empress Josephine. The "Sibylle des Salons", as she was known, was imitated by scores of fortune-tellers who sought to make a living from their art by declaring themselves to be disciples or even heirs to M.lle Lenormand. Others created new packs of Tarots based on the Egyptian Tarots of Etteilla or the ordinary French playing-cards.

http://bougearel.blog.lemonde.fr/bougearel/2005/12/tarots_art_et_m.html

Mlle Lenormand as alive during Grandville's rendition of a deck named after her:

Mlle Lenormand lived from 1768 (she later claimed 1772) to 1843

http://www.serenapowers.com/lenormand.html
................................................................................

Considering the fame of both, I would be surprised if she were not aware of the deck he illustrated, and quite possibly involved.

 

[Cerulean]

Here's an illustration of the Christies' auction of the Grandville

and Sybil des Salons pattern:

http://www.christies.com/lotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=3914251


There's some more, but I thought I would find the earliest thread to gather these links and post for further discussion.

I have a later, alas, second edition stamped by Grimaud around 1890.

Haven't researched the meanings yet, so do not know if the later Grimaud editions actually copied something authentic or added their own meanings in their late 19th anc 20th century editions, plus later 21st century editions with meanings by Frances Cartes.

The costumes--if someone is an expert--can someone say if the present Sybil des Salons by Frances Cartes--does it reflect the 1820s or a later period of Paris? I might have an old book of costumes and other cards -- for instance, the Neoclassical Tarocchi of Ferdinando di Gumppenberg of 1806/1811 does have a simpler Neoclassical style. The Granville pantaloons and waistcoats on the men and the petticoat puffery on the women would be 19th century to my uneducated eyes....but true to which period?

Anyway, I love this deck and would enjoy more discussion of it.

Cerulean

 

[IheartTarot]

Interesting thread but wouldn't the Historical Research section be better? I say this because I recently had to copy a whole lot of posts there which would have got lost here.

 

[IheartTarot]

Sibylle des Salons prototype? Mangion deck c1830

This image in Catherine Perry Hargrave's A History of Playing Cards caught my attention the other day because of the date. The card name (Flatteur), playing card inset (Jack of ♣), card number 14 and image is the same as that in card 14 in the French Sibilla.

The photo caption says "A card from a fortune-telling series designed by Mangion (sic) about 1830".

The image is signed "J Gaudais".

 

[IheartTarot]

V&A listing for deck c1860:

This set is probably a reissue of LA JEU DE LA SYBELLE DES SALONS by Gaudais, issued in 1830 and consisting of hand coloured lithographs, see C P Hargrave A History of Playing Cards, Boston & New York, 1930, p.76,79

Hargrave says:

A very clever series of fifty-two cards is the 'Jeu de la Sybelle des Salons'. There is a card of explanation, showing how they are to be dealt, to yourself, to your house; to what you do expect, and to what you don't expect. Practically the entire card is taken up with a whimsical illustration, the subjects varying greatly. The designs are by a well-known caricaturist of the time, Mansion, and each card is signed. Though they were issued in good faith as fortune-telling cards, you can't help feel that their author is laughing at their users. They are hand-coloured lithographs, with infinite charm, and were printed by Gaudais in 1830.

 

[IheartTarot]

So who is Mansion?

Grandville, JJ (encyclopedia.com):

Léon-André Larue, a relative and lithographer who worked under the name of Mansion, liked the young Grandville's work and encouraged him to travel to Paris to pursue a career.

It looks like he moved to the UK and took up photography:

Mansion, Andre Leon Larue (photoLondon):

Born 1785, France. Died 1870.

Mansion, Andre Leon Larue
Born in Nancy, France 1785.
Md Marie (b Brussels 1821).
Photographic colourist who worked for Antoine Claudet & John Barratt.
Lessons advertised IN Art Journal July 1845 p 243. Photographic miniatures noted IN Art Journal January 1846 pp 19 - 20. Advert IN PJ June 15 1859 for new colours & varnishes.
1861: artist living at 35 Nichols Square, Hackney Road, Shoreditch.
Died in 1870.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Instructions for colouring daguerreotype portraits. London, (1845). Gernsheim, Incunabula 675; The principles and practice of harmonious colouring in oil, water and photographic colours, especially as applied to photographs on paper, glass and silverplate. By an artist - photographer. London, W Kent & Co; J Newman, 1859 (with 22 pp Newman catalogue). Gernsheim, Incunabula 817 (4 ed 1863; 9 ed 1872; 14 ed 1886).

 

[IheartTarot]

More about Mansion

There are conflicting reports about when and where Mansion died, many sites list his death date as 1834 or after 1834 (when he stopped exhibiting in Paris).

This one gives 1843:

A.L. Larue (Mansion) (Wilnitsky.com):

Andre Leon Larue (called Mansion) was born in Nancy in 1785 and died in 1843 in Paris. He was pupil of his father Jacques Larue and of Isabey. For some time he worked for the factory of Sevres. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1808 to 1834. Several times he went to London and exhibited there at the Royal Academy in 1829 and 1831. In 1822 appeared his work "Lettres sur la miniature", in French and in English. Schidlof says: ...Mansion counts amongst the best French miniaturists of the 19th century... he attains the same standard as Aubry, Jacques and Saint. In the Wallace collection, London are six miniatures of young ladies by Mansion, all of large (sic!) dimensions, on ivory and signed. These miniatures, Schidlof writes, already had at the time they were painted a considerable success.

His UK 1870 death record index is transcribed as follows:

Deaths Jun 1870:

Surname: Mansion
Given Name: Leon Andre S.
Age : 84
District: Shoreditch
Volume: 1c
Page: 116

 

[IheartTarot]

A Wicked Pack of Cards

This note from DDD takes us back a few years earlier, from 1830 to 1827/8:

One such (French cartomantic pack) was entitled 'La Sibylle des Salons'. Signed and published by the caricaturist Mansion but designed by his pupil Grandville, it appeared in 1827 in a form with thirty-three cards (with one card depicting the Sibyl), and in the following year in an expanded form with fifty-three ... A similar pack, called 'le Livre du Destin', had only thirty-two cards; it originated in the middle of the century and was published by Marteau frères & Boudin ... A version from the end of the century, called 'le petit Cartomancien', had thirty-six cards, including the 6's; many of its designs were borrowed from the Sibylle des Salons