outlier Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 Hi all, I'm trying to track down a deck of Tarot cards for my wife I'm hoping you guys can help me.. Ok quick backstory, whilst staying with friends in France on vacation, our friend had a pack of Tarot cards on his shelf. My wife says oh I can read Tarot, (news to me!) allow me to show you the basics.. So she did an example reading for him. He drew some cards and she read them leaving him and his partner (and myself) gobsmacked. It was very accurate and left everyone a tad awkward. I later asked my wife about this, she said her great grandmother taught her and she used to read everyones cards in the village as a teenager. She also said our friends cards didn't really speak to her, unlike her grandmothers cards did. She said the cards were very old and didn't have any words or names under the illustrations. Her Great grandmother lived until her late 90s so I can only guess the cards might be from the early 20th century.. My wife doesn't have her own set and I'd like to find her this set if possible, it's a long shot but someone out there might know what they are... Many thanks
Wanderer Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 Hi Outlier, Unfortunately there are thousands of different Tarot decks out there, and quite a few of them have no titles (although that's relatively uncommon). Some of the early Italian-style decks might fit (e.g. based on: Tarrochini di Bologna, or Tarrochi dei Visconti-Sforza) and these are sometimes available in modern versions or reprints, but there are many other possibilities, some of them completely different from each other. You might need to get some more pointers! For example, were all of them unique drawings, or were the minor cards 'pips'? What sort of colouring were they? I guess you're wanting it to be a surprise, but you might have to forego that if you want it to be close to what she originally had... but with a bit of help, I'm sure you'll be able to find something close, once you've narrowed it down! :)
Flaxen Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 Going by the age of the great-grandmother, I’d say that the most likely candidate is a variant of the Marseille. If we could narrow down the date and where she was living that would help too.
outlier Posted January 14, 2019 Author Posted January 14, 2019 I would say at a guess she got the deck in the 40s or 50s.. Which would put her in her mid twenties.. She lived in Peru, South America. So possibly a hispanic deck?
outlier Posted January 14, 2019 Author Posted January 14, 2019 She said she can remember them having gold circles as part of the design.
Rose Lalonde Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 She said she can remember them having gold circles as part of the design. Many possibilities as said above, so this could be random, but there's a Peruvian tarot from the 1930's featuring the Incas that might fit your descriptions… https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/peru-tarot-estanco-de-naipes-subjet-218564104
outlier Posted January 17, 2019 Author Posted January 17, 2019 Thank you for all the replies. They were not Peruvia design, she said the illustrations were medieval, colourful, justice card was a scale with gold circles, no names on the bottoms of the illustrations.. the I've had a look for decks with no text on the cards but can't seem to find any..
Saturn Celeste Posted January 17, 2019 Posted January 17, 2019 Was the art modern looking like a Thoth deck? Ask her if the minor arcana cards had pictures on them or just symbols of each suit? Did it have Egyptian art? I'm thinking a Marseilles deck or Wirth deck. Brotherhood of Light was around then also but that would have been black and white and Egyptian art. What Wanderer and Flaxen said also, is this supposed to be a surprise?
outlier Posted January 17, 2019 Author Posted January 17, 2019 Hi all, Thanks again, you guys and gals are very knowledgeable. I can only assume the deck in question can be a Visconti Sforza Deck, they look old, have gold in their design and have no card description.. Unless you know of a Marseilles deck that has no names on the cards? I can't find any..
Saturn Celeste Posted January 17, 2019 Posted January 17, 2019 Hi all, Thanks again, you guys and gals are very knowledgeable. I can only assume the deck in question can be a Visconti Sforza Deck, they look old, have gold in their design and have no card description.. Unless you know of a Marseilles deck that has no names on the cards? I can't find any.. You can get a reproduction from Amazon for less than $40. ;) https://www.amazon.com/Visconti-Sforza-Tarot-Stuart-Kaplan/dp/0913866067
Raggydoll Posted January 17, 2019 Posted January 17, 2019 I think you should have your wife look at some pictures of potential contenders. Another option is to contact the author Mary K Greer. She is really knowledgeable and very friendly. I have emailed her in the past. She collects old decks.
Recommended Posts