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Tarot History Forum

Tarot History Forum - 600 years of history in 78 cards

question Rothschild Tarocchi

1
I speak of this deck ...

Image


Dummett in "Game of Tarot" says this about the deck:
(5) The most complete set other than the three by Bembo is one in the Rothschild Collection in the Louvre, consisting of thirty-one cards. It is generally accepted that a single card, a Cavalier of Swords, in the Museo Civico at Bassano also belongs to this pack, bringing the total to thirty-two. Despite a slight divergence in the measurements cited for this card (190 x 90 mm. as against 188 x 90 for the Rothschild ones), this identification can scarcely be doubted: not only the general style, but the border design, the overrunning of the border and the arches in the top corners all resemble the Rothschild cards, while the trappings of the horse tally exactly with those of the Rothschild Cavalier of Batons, and the curious tortoise-back shield with those on the Rothschild King and Queen of Batons. In this set, however, only one triumph card survives, the Emperor; the rest are suit cards. (In his The Encyclopedia of Tarot, New York, 1978, Stuart R. Kaplan suggests that another card, shown by him at the top right of p. 121, is also a triumph, the Pope, the Hermit or the World; it is, however, surely the Jack of Coins, though admittedly a bearded Jack is a rarity. Some writers have questioned whether the twenty-three numeral cards, whose measurements Detlef Hoffmann gives as 186 x 93 mm., belong with the other eight Rothschild cards, which measure 185 x 90 mm. according to Hoffmann, and it is true that their borders do not have the wavy lines found on the court cards and the Emperor. The measurement criterion would be conclusive, save that discrepancies between measurements made by different individuals are exceedingly common.) The general treatment, though not the individual style, is highly similar to the Charles VI cards, and the two packs are probably to be assigned to the same milieu. The Swords on the numeral cards are curved.
Do we have any pictures of these 23 numeral cards?

Re: question Rothschild Tarocchi

3
Ross G. R. Caldwell wrote:I don't know of any reproductions of these cards.

Are there any articles in The Playing Card dealing with them?
No, I just need to check them ... I've some suspicions about them.

Re: question Rothschild Tarocchi

4
Hoffmann illustrates 3 of them The Playing Card (English trans.), plate 20b. The German original of this book might be the basis for Dummett's comments.

They look familiar...

Re: question Rothschild Tarocchi

5
Ross G. R. Caldwell wrote:Hoffmann illustrates 3 of them The Playing Card (English trans.), plate 20b. The German original of this book might be the basis for Dummett's comments.

They look familiar...
Yes, you're right, this are 3 of them. Thanks, that's satisfying.