By Wirth, or not by Wirth

[Teheuti]

Hi Mary,
Thanks for your comment
Indeed the belt is a noticeable feature of this hand-drawn card, and I agree with you it may symbolize the zodiac. It is actually written in Wirth's 1927 book -- but it was for LE FOU, not for LE BATELEUR

Thank you for the correction. I meant to look it up and didn't take the time - which is a "no-no".

Or more simply, the hand-drawn card may have been just affected by the Rochias' design, which I am pretty sure Wirth referred to.
Brilliant. I'm not familiar with that deck but you are absolutely right!

Mary

 

[Teheuti]

Rochias

Kenji - How close are the rest of the Rochias cards to the Wirth images? Is it just the Magician who is so close?

 

[kenji]

Hi Cerulean & Mary,

Tarot orgy! How intriguing that sounds You must have had an outrageously good time... (envious. LOL)

Rochias' deck ('Joseph Henri Rochias, 1816') and Wirth' have some features in common, which hardly any other TdM deck has.

1. the colouring of the beams behind the cupid in L'AMOUREUX (red & green)

　　　　

2. the number and the arrangement of the buttons on LE PENDU's clothes ( 4 + 2 = 6)

　　　　

3. the flower on the ground in TEMPERANCE (This is the most distinctive feature.)

　

　

　

4. the multicoloured wall in LE SOLEIL (and the two people's postures, too.)

　　　　

Just try comparing them with any other TdM decks.

BTW, Here is the B/W 'LE MOND' drawing Wirth shows as 'Le Tarot italien' in his 1927 book. Wirth says that one of the two decks which de Guaita gave to him in 1887 was 'italien'. (The b/w plate in 1911 Masonry periodical also shows a similar design.)

　　　　

 

[Teheuti]

Kenji - Wow! You are so right. Which Rochias deck is this? And it's it from Switzerland? What is the Papessa-figure like?

 

[kenji]

Hi Mary
The images I posted are 'Joseph Henri Rochias' (Neuchatel, 1816).
The British Museum website also shows some images.
The Rochias family published several decks over time. One of the decks by 'Jacques Rochias fils' (Joseph Henri's father) has atouts quite similar in design. So it may have been this deck that Wirth referred to.

If de Guaita gave him only 22 atouts (=without the 2 of Coins), it is probable that Wirth didn't know the deck was made in Switzerland.

Rochias' 'LA PAPESSE' does not particularly look like Wirth's. I suspect the two keys in her hand may be from Tarocco bolognese, and the chequered floor from the Pope of tarocchi di Mantegna, both of which Wirth examined at BnF.

　

　

　

 

[Teheuti]

Kenji - I actually think that the Rochias Papess looks quite a bit like the Wirth one, although with the addition of a few elements. The checkerboard floor may be a Masonic allusion.

 

[kenji]

Hi Mary
Yes, considering Tarot de Besançon has no Papess, Rochias should have been the sole model for his own Papess. But I feel this Rocias' design is an ordinary one as TdM, not so unique.
And I think you are right about the masonic allusion. The Mantegna card may well have been only a hint.

 

[kenji]

The belt

The belt has seven black parts, just as the upper one of Rochias'.

Wirth didn't mention the name of the maker of his model deck in his book, and this design never appeared in any of his published decks. So, wouldn't it be reasonable to think this card was drawn by Wirth himself, or a person who was so close to him?

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[kenji]

Discs (again)

In the 1889 version the one the magician points at has a hexagram on it, which should be an influence of Levi's 'Dogme et Rituel'.

Meanwhile, in the hand-drawm card and the 1926 version, it was replaced by the one with a cross (or something like that) on it. In 'Histoire de la magie' (1870) Paul Christian says --
'Before the Magus on a cubic stone are placed a goblet, a sword and a shekel--a golden coin in whose centre a cross is engraved.'

It seems to me that in the hand-drawn card the disc under the blade has a pentagram on it instead of a hexagram.

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[kenji]

The list of extant & complete 1889 Wirth decks

1. in the collection of Mr Guido Gillabel (Belgium)

2. in the collection of Mr Yasuhiko Hirota (Japan)

3. in the collection of Mr Darcy Kuntz (the Golden Dawn Research Trust)

4. in the British Museum

5. in the university of Texas (the one which once belonged to Aleister Crowley. See Kaplan II, p393.)

6. the one which appeared on TAJAN auction in 2004 (No. 115)

7. the one which appeared on eBay in 2006
(entitled 'LE LIVRE DE THOT', the only extant example I know. See the attached file.)

If anyone knows others, please post here