KariRoad
I certainly can't argue with endlessly repeated conclusions. Did then Pamela Colman Smith "copy" the Sola Busca card for card from the British Museum? I guess the answer is yes, if you want it to be. The 3 of Swords was probably a Roman tattoo, copied from the Greeks, who got it from the Egyptians. Hallmark probably has a card with the same design today.Debra said:KariRoad, my friend, I respectfully disagree. Both decks are gorgeous and in that sense similar, but I'm not seeing enough parallels in composition, body posture, coloration, gesture, faces to draw any solid line between the two. I don't see any reason to think the Dotti was more influential than any other deck that Colman Smith might have examined. The Sola Busca cards are certainly a partial influence--hard to deny that 3 of Swords.
Teodoro Dotti created a version of the Tarot; Pamela Colman Smith created a version of the Tarot. Did PCS "copy" line for line Dotti's designs? No. She intentionally translated her source of inspiration, artistically, but made it clear to anyone who cared to look that she was paying homage to a master. Tarot is a living tradition, and as much as PCS was inspired by Oswald Wirth, she also followed her vision with joy and delight from the images she knew and loved by Dotti.
The bottom line is, Pamela Colman Smith didn't COPYRIGHT her images, she presented them to the world. But nowadays, a few folks with sticky fingers lay claim to every detail, and suppose to tell the world all about what she did, herself, in her own way, for her own reasons and our eternal benefit. Copyright free, and bless her Pixie heart