EnriqueEnriquez
Loving the Noblet...
I have been working exclusively with the Noblet for a few months now, after a dear friend sent me a copy as a present (I can’t thank him enough!). Now I cannot keep my eyes from it. It is like if I received a blow on my head who had me erupting, like that fire in La Mason Diev, so now I can perceive red, yellow, blue, green, etc... like I have never perceived them before: not with my eyes but with my soul.
What impresses me most about the Noblet, is the timeless quality of it's design. Being the oldest Marseille, it is somehow the most "contemporary." Temperance looks like an sculpture from Niki De Saint Phalle. La Rove de Fortune looks as the result of a rendezvous between Braque and Picasso. La Force seems like something envisioned by Le Fauves. Le Pendu could be a character dreamed by Gaudí to cheer up the visitors of his Parque Güell. Lestoille looks like a Fernand Leger character... Matisse, Vlaminck, Die Brucke, Der Blau Riter, most of 20th Century’s Avantgarde resonates in this, old and little deck
There is a crudeness in this drawings that is in no way imprecise. Everything is where it should be, so the character’s proportions, attitude and expression is totally eloquent, yet each line has been rendered with economy, saying more, with less.
Then we have the minors. It may sound paradoxical to some but, how expressive they are! Some of the court cards resemble of Aubrey Beardsley's sensuous style. And these cups and coins spreading way apart, trembling by feeling lost in such wide space; telling us: “I am here”, “I am trembling”, “I am ready to evolve, to be the next card!”
The images in the Noblet are so strong that it couldn’t have had bigger proportions. Being quite tiny, it commands the same attention than bigger decks, the same respect.
Below the mastery of Jean Noblet is the steady, consistent, work of JC Flornoy, who brings an impeccable edition, so we all can enjoy and use this deck, making it “alive” for the first time in centuries. The deck is done in a sharp, elegant, extremely resistant way. The stock is heavy enough to endure all that pain our clients are capable to give a pack of cards while shuffling it, yet they glide effortless when we mix them with care.
I feel I have to mention the booklet that comes with the deck. I don’t care for list of meanings, yet in this case, Flornoy’s comments on each card enriched and expanded my view of them. Flornoy writes with a very unique combination of respect for the tradition and understanding of the evolution of our conceptions about the human mind. His views on divination, albeit brief, are inspirational and useful. One ends up wanting more...
Then we have the box. What a beauty! One can tell a lot about the way cardmakers see themselves by their box’s design. In this case, there is again a beautiful balance of classicism, and contemporaneity that makes the card seems luxurious without being over the top. On top of that, I can only be thankful for the fact that the stock in which the box is made is strong, and won’t fall apart after opening it a few times.
Anyway, I don’t have time for writing a full review of this deck in the way it deserves it, but I wanted to share my feelings about JC Flornoy’s edition of the Tarot de Marseille de Jean Noblet.
Best,
Enrique Enriquez
I have been working exclusively with the Noblet for a few months now, after a dear friend sent me a copy as a present (I can’t thank him enough!). Now I cannot keep my eyes from it. It is like if I received a blow on my head who had me erupting, like that fire in La Mason Diev, so now I can perceive red, yellow, blue, green, etc... like I have never perceived them before: not with my eyes but with my soul.
What impresses me most about the Noblet, is the timeless quality of it's design. Being the oldest Marseille, it is somehow the most "contemporary." Temperance looks like an sculpture from Niki De Saint Phalle. La Rove de Fortune looks as the result of a rendezvous between Braque and Picasso. La Force seems like something envisioned by Le Fauves. Le Pendu could be a character dreamed by Gaudí to cheer up the visitors of his Parque Güell. Lestoille looks like a Fernand Leger character... Matisse, Vlaminck, Die Brucke, Der Blau Riter, most of 20th Century’s Avantgarde resonates in this, old and little deck
There is a crudeness in this drawings that is in no way imprecise. Everything is where it should be, so the character’s proportions, attitude and expression is totally eloquent, yet each line has been rendered with economy, saying more, with less.
Then we have the minors. It may sound paradoxical to some but, how expressive they are! Some of the court cards resemble of Aubrey Beardsley's sensuous style. And these cups and coins spreading way apart, trembling by feeling lost in such wide space; telling us: “I am here”, “I am trembling”, “I am ready to evolve, to be the next card!”
The images in the Noblet are so strong that it couldn’t have had bigger proportions. Being quite tiny, it commands the same attention than bigger decks, the same respect.
Below the mastery of Jean Noblet is the steady, consistent, work of JC Flornoy, who brings an impeccable edition, so we all can enjoy and use this deck, making it “alive” for the first time in centuries. The deck is done in a sharp, elegant, extremely resistant way. The stock is heavy enough to endure all that pain our clients are capable to give a pack of cards while shuffling it, yet they glide effortless when we mix them with care.
I feel I have to mention the booklet that comes with the deck. I don’t care for list of meanings, yet in this case, Flornoy’s comments on each card enriched and expanded my view of them. Flornoy writes with a very unique combination of respect for the tradition and understanding of the evolution of our conceptions about the human mind. His views on divination, albeit brief, are inspirational and useful. One ends up wanting more...
Then we have the box. What a beauty! One can tell a lot about the way cardmakers see themselves by their box’s design. In this case, there is again a beautiful balance of classicism, and contemporaneity that makes the card seems luxurious without being over the top. On top of that, I can only be thankful for the fact that the stock in which the box is made is strong, and won’t fall apart after opening it a few times.
Anyway, I don’t have time for writing a full review of this deck in the way it deserves it, but I wanted to share my feelings about JC Flornoy’s edition of the Tarot de Marseille de Jean Noblet.
Best,
Enrique Enriquez
