Help identify a Besançon deck printed in venice

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I came across what the British Museum describes (page 1, page 2) as "late 19th century impression" of woodblocks of a "Venetian tarot cards".

Beside the exceptional blindfolded Lady Justice*, I like the art, maybe professional artist who uses models for the court cards. What deck is it? Is it printed in color?

* The only other tarot deck with blindfolded justice I recall is another Besançon deck printed in Italy.
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VIII Justice.jpg VIII Justice.jpg Viewed 3076 times 62.41 KiB
Queen of Cups.jpg Queen of Cups.jpg Viewed 3076 times 66.49 KiB
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II Junon.jpg II Junon.jpg Viewed 3076 times 65.21 KiB

Re: Help identify a Besançon deck printed in venice

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uri.raz wrote: 04 May 2023, 21:41
* The only other tarot deck with blindfolded justice I recall is another Besançon deck printed in Italy.
That one is not from Italy but was published by Guillaume Man of Colmar in the 1790's. Although the mold itself is c.1752* it passed through the hands of at least two publishers from that time which meant some of the cards were modified each time to change the name of the different owners, more significant modifications were made when G. Man printed the deck in post-revolutionary 1790's, for example, royal symbols have been removed from shields and replaced by a flower-like pattern, and crowns were either removed or otherwise modified to not look like crowns. I suspect when the engraver removed the crown from Justice in this case, that maybe he cocked it up somehow and he added the blindfold to conceal the fault.

*Or at least maybe one of them - there is a mixture of styles here that suggests a mix of cards from different molds - one or more of which, by the initials and style of monogram, we can identify as being by the Swiss cardmaker Hans Buolman.
Last edited by SteveM on 09 May 2023, 07:18, edited 2 times in total.

Re: Help identify a Besançon deck printed in venice

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I wouldn't put too much trust in the BM description of them as being Venetian. Angst was primarily a collector of Swiss products though his main interest was ceramics: also, there is another set of three prints [for a different deck] "For Lady Charlotte Schreiber. Impressions from wooden blocks belonging to W. H. Angst, H.B.M. Consul, Zurich" which the BM also describes as Venetian, but they are for the deck of cards published by the Swiss cardmaker Jaquot Coly of Fribourg, which I was able to recognize because of the initials 'C I' [for the engraver Charles Jacquard] on the seat of the King of Coins:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collectio ... -0501-1323

Also, though we have too little information to be sure, with there being the 7-10 of the Batons & Swords, and only the 3-4 of Cups, it is possible that the pack was a reduced deck of 54 playing cards [with the Ace to Four of Cups and Coins, and Seven to Ten of Batons & Swords]. If memory serves me right games with such packs became popular in Switzerland & parts of Germany in the [latter half?] of the 18th century. An example of such a pack is that by the German cardmaker Joseph Krebs, which is also a JJ [Juno/Jupiter] type:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collectio ... W5E3neDz7A

Re: Help identify a Besançon deck printed in venice

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uri.raz wrote: 04 May 2023, 21:41 Beside the exceptional blindfolded Lady Justice*, I like the art, maybe professional artist who uses models for the court cards. What deck is it? Is it printed in color?

* The only other tarot deck with blindfolded justice I recall is another Besançon deck printed in Italy.
Image
published at facebook tarothistory recently
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1457073457838971/
Alexandra Miron
...
I have just found this blindfolded Justice which reminded me of the Tarot of Paris, does anyone know of another deck with a blindfolded Justice? (click for full details)
Published in Colmar, France; 17th century
Published by: G Mann
Print made by: H B
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collectio ... 10-172-193
Huck
http://trionfi.com
cron