Economic factors & printing techniques in early Tarot

doubts

"About the same time [~1420] playing cards began to be printed from blocks. Originally they were drawn and painted by hand, a craft largely carried on by women. "

I wonder, by which source he has reason to say so. There are variously men noted in card production before 1420 ... which woman?

Might be a little later...

Even though these might have been posted earlier, I hadn't read this portion where some stencil engraving detail and examples are printed.

I apologize that these are mainly French tarot samples of a later period. But I've been looking backward from the 19th century and in knowing what examples were in terms of 'printed' or engraved fine art tarots...this card maker suggests some background and terminology that might be interesting to the discussion:

http://english.letarot.com/pages/01hist.html

Paying Cards Manufacturing in the 1600s

Playing Cards Production
Interestingly, there were at least 4 professions involved in the process of cards production:

the paper maker (Papiermacher)
the drawer: (Reisser) an artist who draws the sketches
the form cutter (Formschneider) cuts the wood blocks according to the preparatory drawings created by the drawer
the printer (Buchdrucker)

(from a 1568 description of professions by Jost Amman, quoted in: "Schweizer Spielkarten 1--Die Anfänge im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert")

These kind of workshops mainly produced devotional pictures and later on, also playing cards.

Stencils

Stencils were made from normal black and white prints. For each color needed they used one sheet (probably the wasted ones) where they cut out all spaces that were to be colored.

Colorizing normally was done by the apprentices, just like in the workshops of the painters of that time period.

The cards themselves were made from three sheets which were glued togehther: the face, the backside and an unprinted layer in between.

Four links-Jost Ammon

http://www.geocities.com/cartedatrionfi/Frag4.html

http://www.wopc.co.uk/germany/ammon.html

http://english.cla.umn.edu/lkd/pm/PMII.101.html

http://it.geocities.com/a_pollett/cards66.htm

Fascinating for me. At one time I kept researching Jost Ammon and found that I could order a copy of his playing cards through Trigono (spelled right?). Their fine engraving style resembled the beautiful Vacchetta deck that I liked so much, centuries later.

Hope they prove helpful and happy reading.

Mari Hoshizaki

Mari, thanks for the links about Jost Amman!

By the way, the last image of the last link you gave is from the same work, the "Book of Trades" (Eygentliche Beschreibung Aller Staende auff Erden, 1568), is entitled "the book printer" but it shows "Der Brieffmaler" (the painter of letters) which was one of the professions mentionened in the Swiss book as a predecessor of the card makers. Letters then were not personal letters but illustrated religious tractates, one of the precursors of modern day newspapers.

PS: On anglosaxon web pages you often find references to Jost Ammon, but the correct spelling of his name is Jost Amman, Google has plenty of pointers ...

One of his many amazing wood engravings:
Adam and Eve with the Tree of Knowledge as Death (1587).

re: Huck's Doubts

About the same time [~1420] playing cards began to be printed from blocks. Originally they were drawn and painted by hand, a craft largely carried on by women.

Huck, have a look at this article in German: Hans Dieter Huber-Kommunikation in Abwesenheit. Zur Mediengeschichte der künstlerischen Bildmedien. There you will find the statement:

Diese kleinen Andachtsbildchen, die von Funktion und Ikonographie her gesehen, die unmittelbaren Vorläufer des Mediums Einblattholzschnitt waren, wurden in Klöstern, meist von Nonnen, angefertigt.

In english: [one of the predecessors of single-sheet wood engravings] had been small devotional pictures which were produced in monasteries, mainly by nuns.


The author formulates his hypothesis that each new medium (and wood engravings were in his opinioin the medium of the 1400s) in its beginning copies the content of its predecessors, here mainly devotional pictures, cards, stain-glass windows, etc. but at much lower prices and higher availability.

Eberhard:

There you will find the statement:

Diese kleinen Andachtsbildchen, die von Funktion und Ikonographie her gesehen, die unmittelbaren Vorläufer des Mediums Einblattholzschnitt waren, wurden in Klöstern, meist von Nonnen, angefertigt.

In english: [one of the predecessors of single-sheet wood engravings] had been small devotional pictures which were produced in monasteries, mainly by nuns.

****** If there is any document, that indicates that nuns were active in producing devotional pictures, it's okay.

This doesn't give any hint, how playing cards were produced, so the statement: "playing cards were mainly painted by women", as far it is not backed up with something (and as far I know, there is nothing, and if there is something, I wish to know about it), is totally unreliable - a mere conclusion. And perhaps a bad conclusion, cause any person, who is really mentioned in the production processes of playing cards in documents, is male. As there is probably no female art in 15th century, perhaps some exceptions, this was probably a male domain. Probably women were even not allowed to become acquainted with the material nor they had a chance to enter a guild.

Some nuns painted ... this might be true, as nuns often had a rich background, when they descended of a rich family. But they're unlikely to have painted playing cards.

So I guess, the author did a wrong conclusion, and stated it as truth in his wish to tell his story, as it often happens. I guess, he cannot back it up with a document - and if he could, then it would be interesting to know his source.
I don't exclude, that in the backrooms women really helped in the production of playing cards, but .... the shop owners probably were men.

There is an interesting approach of a young intellectual woman, who discussed with Guarino in Ferrara to be allowed to study something, but was disappointed in her interests. Ferrara was probably "most modern" in the relationship men-women ... and became reknown for its most emancipated and cultivated Este-daughters later.
But early playing card history is before-Ferrara - the statement looks unsolide.

Just another interesting factoid from the exhibition catalog mentioned in this thread:

Because playing cards were part of the local folklore usually not recognized (collected) by the ruling class often cards discovered survived only inside of old book covers after MA wooden covers went out of fashion. Paper was rare then so they recycled all kinds of used paper for making cardboard. Only when restoring precious books cards show up occasionally.

And another factoid regarding the influence of printing technology: AG Müller at Schaffhausen, CH was founded in 1829 as a factory specializing in printing on cardboard, mainly train tickets (the New Economy of that era!), but also punch cards for the control of mechanical looms, and playing cards.