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1870 Tarot Piemontese
I was looking for a compact set of cards and I came across the 1870 Tarot Piemontese set, and the cards were certainly compact looking and were unlike anything that I had come across before.
The deck was originally produced in 1870 by a Parisian designer called J. Gaudais. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was interested enough to go ahead and purchase and subsequently decided to review them.
A Review of the 1870 Tarot Piemontese Deck
The 1870 Tarot Piemontese is a reproduction of the original cards by Vieux Monde Express. The company is a small business so buying their cards goes a long way to not only supporting them but hopefully encouraging them to produce more historically based decks.
Artwork
The artwork is very different to most decks that you will have in your possession or have even seen. In many ways the artwork is more reminiscent of historical playing cards.
However, having said that, the cards representing the major arcana will be far more familiar although the design is somewhat mirrored as can be seen in the attached photographs.
The reverse side of the cards is not in the least bit fancy being a pale blue in color. I don’t think that that detracts from the cards themselves, but it is a little unusual in this day and age where patterned backs are much more common.
Dimensions
The cards as I started off saying above are very compact. They measure 3.43 inches by 2.24 inches or 87.2 mm by 56.9mm. This makes them a little smaller than what would be considered standard playing card size. The card used is 0.01inches or 0.3mm thick.
Production Quality
Considering that this is an entrepreneurial small business that is producing the cards I consider that the production quality is actually pretty good.
According to the blurb that comes with the cards, they have been produced with a “mindfulness to historical accuracy.” What this means for the cards is that the graphics are not quite as sharp as one would expect on a modern deck.
Durability
Used on an occasional basis, I would expect the cards to hold up reasonably well. For full-time professional use you would probably be replacing the deck within a few months.
I usually replace a deck every six months (ish!) anyway but the decks I normally use are on a heavier card than the 1870 Tarot Piemontese.
The 1870 Tarot Piemontese in Use
This deck does come with a very small booklet with explanatory meanings which would perhaps be useful to someone who has not yet memorized or developed their own meanings for a particular card.
Enclosed Interpretation Booklet
The enclosed booklet considering its size which limits the explanation given to each card is better than I expected. Although the meaning attributed to each card consists of brief sentences, there are enough sentences to give you a real flavor of what each card means.
In addition to the standard upright explanations the booklet does include reversals which on a booklet of this size is quite unusual.
My only quibble with the enclosed booklet is the font size as it is very small and for those of us who are getting a bit older can prove very difficult to read.
Shuffling and Dealing
The cards are not large and as such are easy to shuffle using the overhand method. The riffle shuffle is a little harder initially due to the stiffness of the cards. Once the deck is worn in a little I would expect the riffle shuffle to get easier.
Dealing is very straightforward.
Accuracy
As per usual I used this deck alongside of my normal cards so that in effect I was asking the same question of each deck. This is the methodology I use for checking the accuracy of new cards.
Overall, I would consider the cards accurate although the outcome very often took a slightly different route to get to the same result.
Conclusion
These cards are an interesting addition to anyone’s collection of tarot decks. The cards are compact which makes them useful for when you’re traveling which was my original need.
Whether they are suitable for you as a practitioner rather than a collector may well depend on your level of experience.
Novice Readers: Not Recommended
I really don’t think that these cards are suitable for a beginner. The reason I say that really revolves around the minor arcana where they are much more similar to playing card graphics unlike the major arcana which does have a hint of the Rider-Waite about them.
What this means is that there is nothing of a story connected to the minors. Hence, a beginner will find themselves having to look at the booklet or Psychic Revelation for every single minor. This is not a good way to learn to use the cards intuitively.
Experienced Readers: Recommended with Reservations
An experienced reader will be able to interpret and use these cards as they already have a good working knowledge of the meanings.
I do think that many readers will find these cards interesting, but whether you would want to use them as your main deck is questionable. I don’t mind taking them with me as a travel deck because my usual cards are currently significantly bigger but I wouldn’t want to have these as my sole cards.
Collectors: Recommended
The 1870 Tarot Piemontese deck is obviously based on a set of cards that at the time of writing are 154 years old. I doubt there are very many original decks left in existence. Hence, this would make for a good example of the cards of that time.
“1870 Tarot Piemontese Review” by Charis
