Vergnano Tarot 1830

DeToX

I'm wondering if anyone has ordered and received this deck. Impressions? I've seen some photos on fb and it seems to have slightly more detail than some of the Lombardy decks of the same period. And also carved in an interesting style.
 

Bluefeet

I have it, a faithful reproduction printed on quality paper, housed in an artistic handcrafted box. It's indeed an Italian deck but instead it belongs to the Piedmontese subfamily - Lombardy decks have a different pattern and the cards are usually smaller and narrower. I personally believe it's worth getting for the quality of the reproduction alone, plus it's also fun to compare the deck to other Piedmontese tarots from the same period, such as the Giovannbattista Guala tarot (reproduced by Lo Scarabeo in 1995). The only compliant I would have is not directed to the deck itself but rather to the price, which is three or four times higher than usual mass market prices. So if you're attracted to this reproduction you probably have expensive taste! :p
 

DeToX

Thanks for the input ES. Yes it is rather expensive lol, I personally could have done without the cardboard 'book-like' box and had a regular tuck box or two piece box and reduce the price and shipping. It seems fitting for the large cards of the Sola Busca but a bit OTT for this deck. It does come with a short book though, have you read it? I presume it's more than a generic LWB. Cheers.
 

Sumada

Hi DeToX. The booklet is a very enjoyable & informative essay on the history of tarot in Turin and the Piedmont region in general, with an emphasis on the Vergnano family of course. No divination information what so ever.
The printing of the cards is excellent, especially the gorgeous colours, which are similar to Solleone's Tarocco Ligure Piemontese - brick red, mustard yellow, deep green, indigo, but all with a subtle softness suggestive of their age. But the images are still crisp and sharp so you can see the delightful expressions on all the faces :)
 

DeToX

Thanks for your observations, Sumada. Sounds like this book is more relevant. I guess if it had been a divination guide of sorts, it would probably have been more LWB-like and generic, without going into any detail of how some of the symbolism differs from TdM in divinatory terms from the author's perspective. I have never heard of the Solleone deck before, so thanks for bringing this to my attention. I compared some of the images I have seen of the Vergnano deck to the LoS Guala deck and the style is similar but there are significant differences over other Piedmontese decks, so perhaps this artist was more idiosyncratic in his style.