c.1850-1891 Two-headed German Tarot, Unknown maker, c.1850-1891
78/78 cards complete
Published by Unknown [Arnoult, Maurin, Lequart, Grimaud?], Paris, France, c.1850-91
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Card Measurements: 10.4 cm X 5.6 cm
DESCRIPTION: [Tarot, Playing Cards] Tarot Allemand à deux-têtes, “dit Chinois” (Two-Headed German Tarot), circa 1850-91, unknown maker, 78/78 cards. Stencil painted. The two-headed trumps are drawn in German Orientalist/Chinoiserie style, with the reverse featuring a host of sea monsters and merpeople. Versos are decorated with a brown-grey cross-hatch pattern.
The deck has a rich production history spanning the entire 19th century (Depaulis 1984, 125). Antoine Lefer (1778-1813) began making the copper-engraved, stencil-painted deck in the early part of the century, borrowing from various older German tarot decks and perhaps copying an as-yet-unidentified game (Depaulis, 100). Lefer’s successors continued to reproduce the deck using various print methods. Successors included René Janet (1818-1831), Alphonse Arnoult (1831-1864), Charles Maurin (1864-1872), Lequart (1872-1891) and then Grimaud (1891-).
Imprecise dating: The back pattern suggests the tarot was likely produced at the earliest post-1850, most likely c.1870. In Tarot Jeu et Magie (1984), Depaulis presents a chromolithographed deck marked Lequart and dates it c.1880 (p.125, deck 120). Grimaud began producing their chromolithographed deck after purchasing Lequart. In online discussions, Lequart is said to have changed the Roman numerals to Arabic on the Trumps. However, a concrete source for this often-repeated anecdote has not yet been found. Depaulis confirms that Lequart’s chromolithographed deck has Arabic numerals (1984, 100) but does not say that he was the first to make this change. In trying to identify another unmarked tarot of this lineage and of similar articulation, it was noted that the numerals were more akin to the Grimaud chromolithograph (solid black) than the Lequart (which shows gradient shading).
The unmarked deck presented here has Arabic numerals with gradient shading, and the cards are stencil-painted.
Deck Identifiers:
Style: Two-headed German Tarot; Tarot Chinois
Titles: None
Borders: dual black line embroidered pattern borders
Reverses: brown-grey cross-hatch pattern
Paper: pasteboard cardstock
Numbering: Arabic numerals with gradient shading
Corners: square, rounded
Pips: two-way
Suit Markers: Hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades.
Tax Stamp: No tax stamp
CONDITION: Good; deck shows heavy use; no doubt many games of tarot were enjoyed; with darkening and soiling, chips, lacks, including missing corner edges; chips with lacks on versos, amateur tape repair XV; slightly curved.
Card Measurement: 5.4 cm x 10.1 cm
