Tarot de Besançon

Tarot de Besançon source texts I: Depaulis 1984

From Thierry DEPAULIS, "Tarot, jeu et magie" (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, 1984), pp. 74-78

The Tarot de Besançon is simply a variant of the Tarot de Marseille where the Popess (trump II) and the Pope (trump V) have been discreetly replaced by Juno and Jupiter, probably under pressure by religious authorities. The latter had already achieved results in Bologna where the same cards had been replaced by "Moors".

Just as the Tarot de Marseille, as we have seen, is not originally from Marseille, so the Tarot of Besançon is only a common name designating what is probably a German creation: the oldest exemplars come from the east of France (Strasbourg, Belfort, Colmar) or from Germany (Constance, Mannheim). The Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires, in Paris, possesses a deck of F. Laudier of Strasbourg, dated 1746 (catalogue no. 44), and another by G. Mann, Colmar, dated 1752.

Already "de-sacralized" (laïcisé), the Tarot de Besançon was completely ready to become "Revolutionary": such as those made by certain carmakers from the east like Louis Carey (catalogue no. 47).

It is just barely after the beginning of the 19th century that the production of this model became in some way a speciality of Besançon. A fame of short duration, since the model died away quietly in the second half of the 19th century.

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The catalogue of the exhibition in 1984 has 7 examples:
1. Laudier, Strasbourg, 1746 (no. 44, pp. 74-75)
2. J.P. Mayer, Colmar, around 1750 (no. 45, p. 75)
3. Blanck and Tschann, Colmar, around 1750 (no. 46, pp. 75-76)
4. Louis Carey, Strasbourg, c. 1793-1800 (no. 47, p. 76)
5. J. Jerger, Besançon, beginning of 19th century (no. 48, pp. 76-77)
6. Pellerin et Cie., Tarot d'Epinal, Epinal, before 1876 (no. 49, pp. 77-78)
7. A.G. Müller, Neuhausen am Rheinfall, 1984 (no. 50, p. 78).

Tarot de Besançon source texts II part 1: Dummett 1993

From Michael DUMMETT, "Il Mondo e l'Angelo: i tarocchi e la loro storia" (Napoli, Bibliopolis, 1993; trad. Mariangela Tempera with additions of the author), pp. 319-324

(page 319)The Tarot of Besançon has still less right to be attributed to Besançon than the Tarot of Marseille has to be attributed to Marseille. It was only in the most recent stages of its history, from around 1800 at the earliest, that it began to be manufactured, at least in consistent quantities, in Besançon; it is, however, convenient to maintain the commonly accepted name. In the 18th century, it was produced in Switzerland, Alsace, and Germany. In Switzerland, François Héri of Solothurn - the maker, for example of the definitive 1718 version of the Tarot of Marseille - made, probably around 1725, an undated deck which exemplifies the Tarot de Besançon (note 10). The oldest deck of this type that can be securely dated (page 320) is the work of Nicolas François Laudier of Strasbourg; the names of the makers and the city are written on the 2 of Cups and on the 2 of Denari, the initials of the maker on the 2 of Denari, the date 1746 and the name of the engraver (Pierre Isnard) on the shield of the Chariot, and his initials on the Knight of Swords (note 11). What is probably an older exemplar was made by Johann Pelagius Mayer of Constance (note 12). C.P. Hargrave dated it to 1680, and asserted that Mayer had arrived at Constance in the last part of the 17th century (note 13). Dr. Max Ruh has demonstrated that this is erroneous: Mayer was in fact born at Kempten in 1690, becoming a citizen of Constance in 1720 and is registered in documents of 1730 and 1777 (note 14). Another example was made by Neumur of Mannheim around 1750, and yet another by G. Mann of Colmar, dated 1752 (note 15). In the second half of the century, examples of the Tarot de Besançon, particularly of Swiss origin, become frequent."

(note 10 - Schweizer Spielkarten (I), p. 143)
(note 11 - See Tarot, jeu et magie, n. 44, pp. 74-5. A complete deck is in the Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires in Paris)
(note 12 - There is an exemplar in the Playing Card Museum of the United States Playing Card Company in Cincinnati, and another in the private collection of Albert Field of Astoria, New York City. For illustrations, see Catherine Perry HARGRAVE, A History of Playing Cards, New York, 1966 (reprint), p. 259, and of the backs on p. 260, and S.R. KAPLAN, The Encyclopedia of Tarot, New York, 1979, p. 136.)
(note 13 - C.P. HARGRAVE, op. cit., New York, 1930, pp. 262, 266.)
(note 14 - Cfr. Tarot, jeu et magie, n. 45, p. 75)
(note 15 - An exemplar of the deck of Neumur is at the British Museum, and one of Mann's decks in the Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires.)

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(to be continued...)

Besançon Bleus

Thierry DEPAULIS said:

The Tarot de Besançon is simply a variant of the Tarot de Marseille where the Popess (trump II) and the Pope (trump V) have been discreetly replaced by Juno and Jupiter, probably under pressure by religious authorities. The latter had already achieved results in Bologna where the same cards had been replaced by "Moors".

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Isn't it equally possible Juno & Jupiter were a further expression
of an unlimited interpretation of the "intended" representations?

Fulgour said:

Isn't it equally possible Juno & Jupiter were a further expression
of an unlimited interpretation of the "intended" representations?

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I guess your sense of what is "equally possible" would depend on your notion of what the original intention was.

And why "unlimited"? Are Bacchus and the Spanish Captain also valid interpretations of those spots?

Ross G Caldwell said:

I guess your sense of what is "equally possible" would depend on your notion of what the original intention was. And why "unlimited"? Are Bacchus and the Spanish Captain also valid interpretations of those spots?

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Rather than it being my "notion of an intention" I was looking
at my joyous Besançon cards...Juno & Jupiter seem liberated.

Re: Unlimited? Could we first develop the "Moors" mentioned?

And to me, Bacchus and the Spanish Captain are exceptionally
out-of-the-loop, though maybe they were done as reaction to
personal frustration at not being able to understand anything?

The 4 Moors of the Tarocco Bolognese

Fulgour said:

Could we first develop the "Moors" mentioned?

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Andrea "Andy" says the Tarocco Bolognese has only 62 cards.

"A distinctive feature of this pattern is the group of four male characters of equal rank, into which the classic trumps Popess, Empress, Emperor and Pope were turned in early times. Initially known as the Popes, they were renamed the Moors (also referred to as the Moorish Kings, or Small Moors), following the ban issued in 1725 by pope Benedict XIII upon the use of "the Pope" and "the Angel" as names for playing card subjects; the latter, though, was never changed nor dropped. In 18th and 19th century editions they were four different personages, very similar though not identical, whose faces were brown..."

Benedict XIV later XIII due to the Antipope Benedict XIII, Pedro de Luna
pope: 1724 to 1730
aka Piero Fraricesco Orsini (1649-1730, cause of death unspecified)


62 cards? It was never a Tarot to begin with. Still very interesting how the
Pope got involved and issued a ban. I hope he got dressed up for the part.

Here's an image of the François Heri TdB from Stuart Kaplan's The Encyclopedia of Tarot(Volume II, page 318)

http://tarothistory.com/compare/images/heri/heri_TdB.jpg

As quoted by Ross earlier.. Dummett says "In Switzerland, François Héri of Solothurn - the maker, for example of the definitive 1718 version of the Tarot of Marseille - made, probably around 1725, an undated deck which exemplifies the Tarot de Besançon (note - Schweizer Spielkarten (I), p. 143)."

When I first saw this deck, I was immediately struck by the similarities to the Jean Noblet (c. 1650, Paris).

The most obvious connection is the shape of the cards, much shorter, and somewhat wider in proportion than "typical" cards of the time. This is the only deck that I know of besides the Noblet that looks like this.

Iconographically, it is also very similar to the Noblet, but there are both "small" differences, as well as complete redrawings of the cards that give it a "TdB" look rather than a TdM. Overall, the cards seem cruder, less detailed.

Heri also printed a TdM II deck as mentioned by Dummett. Because there is no date on the TdB, we can't be sure of when it was printed, but the 1725 date suggested by Dummett seems reasonable.

It's interesting then to question why did Heri use this "shorter" style of cards? Especially if he was familiar with the TdM II style. Why did he use TdM I iconography instead of using the TdM that he was familiar with? Why did he use TdB iconography for cards like the Hermit and the Devil?

I can only assume that several TdB features were established by the time this deck was created... but then I'm back again to wondering why the Noblet sized deck?

Did Noblet build his TdM and Heri his TdB from a similar source? Did Heri take a Noblet-like TdM and use it to build his TdB? Why would he have done that if the iconography of the TdB was already established.. wouldn't it be easier to use another model?

I find this deck very mysterious!

Following will be some posts comparing the Heri and the Noblet...

(Images of the Jean Noblet Tarot are from Jean-Claude Flornoy's site http://www.tarot-history.com/ )

NOTE: Sizes of the cards in the following posts are NOT relative.

The Fool


Similarities:
The knapsack has the cross tie.
The cane has the head on top.
The Fool's pants are off.
The dog/cat/rabbit/animal is shown with the entire body instead of being cut off like in other TdB/TdM decks.

Differences:
The main one is that the unique feature of the Noblet... exposed genitalia... is not shown on the Heri, although it seems to me that it was omitted as the outline "seems" to be there.. to me at least.


The Magician


Similarities:
Overall.. very similiar

Differences:
The Magician's hand holding the wand is positioned differently. Even though the Noblet seems to be missing a portion of the woodcut, we can still see that the Heri holds the hand, and the wand at a very different angle. Also, Heri's wand looks almost like a horn to me. (Did Heri make this change because he was working off of a sample such as the Noblet that had this piece of the image missing??)
Heri has more, and differently shaped plants on the ground.


The Emperor


Similarities:
Overall.. very similiar, especially when you consider that the direction the Emperor faces matches Noblet, whereas most TdM and TdB cards have him face the opposite direction.

Differences:
The main difference between these cards is what looks to me like an eagle as part of the chair behind the Emperor. This shows up in other TdB decks as well. The TdM II has the chair back, but not in such an "eagle-like" shape. The chair back is missing from the TdM I.

The shield on the Heri is more squared, with a slightly different eagle.
The staff has an extra knob in the middle on the Heri.
Heri's hat is less clearly detailed.

Questions:
If the TdB and the TdM II are based on the TdM I, then why do the TdB and the TdM II have the back of the chair?

Which is more likely.. that it had an eagle shape like the TdB, or that it is just curves like on the TdM II. Or am I seeing too much of an eagle that doesn't even really exist?

To further illustrate this.. here is the Emperor from the TdB by J. B. Benois:



To me, there does seem to be an attempt to show a connection between the head of the eagle on the sheild, and the back of the throne.

The Chariot

Here is the Chariot from the Heri, Vieville, Dodal, Noblet and Conver:



Similarities:
Again, the Heri is very similar to the Noblet.

Of special note is the way the columns that support the canopy are displayed with rounded, "turned" posts rather than the more straight posts in the other decks. The canopy is very much TdM I style with the scalloped canopy rather than the "parted drapes" shown in TdM II decks.

Differences:
The Heri, to my eye, more clearly shows the faces on the shoulders of the charioteer than the Noblet.

Interestingly, the plate on the front of the chariot is shaped more like the Dodal than the Noblet. And very worth noting... the initials in the plate are not FH as we might expect, but HB. Who was HB? Is the Heri a later version of a tarot by "HB"?

The area below the chariot is very different on the Heri. His shows "space" between the ground and the bottom of the horses, (similar to the Conver), but it is important to note that only the Noblet clearly shows a back leg of each horse. I believe this is probably "lost" on the Heri, and possibly on other TdM decks as well.

I think it is also interesting to notice the "dots" on the wheels. The Noblet has large diamond shaped dots. The Dodal and Vieville are missing them. The Heri shows the two wheels clearly like the Noblet, but seems to have more "dots" on the wheel.. similar to the Conver.

Here are two cards where the TdB really shows a difference from the TdM.. The Hermit and The Devil.

The Hermit

Here is the Hermit from the Heri, Noblet, Conver, Dodal, and Benois:




Similarities:
Here the Heri and the Benois seem similar, in general, the style of the TdB Hermit is different than the TdM.

Differences:
In the TdB, the hermit's robe does not extend to the under the lantern.
The general "feel" of the card is different.
The top of the cane extends in two directions rather than one as in the TdM.


The Devil

The Devil from the Heri, Noblet, Conver, Dodal, and Benois:




Similarities:
Again the Heri and the Benois are similar, and different in style than the TdM.

Differences:
A lot. The TdB seems to be horizontally reversed, with the torch/pitchfork in the Devil's right hand instead of his left as in the TdM.
He is hairy.
His horns are different, and he has no "cap".
The "minions" are shown in complete profile.
There is no face on the belly as in TdM I.
The genitalia are not shown.