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Tarocco Piemontese

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The Tarocco Piemontese ( Tarot of Piedmont ) is a type of tarot deck of Italian origin . It is the most common tarot playing set in northern Italy, much more common than the Tarocco Bolognese . The most popular Piedmontese tarot games are Scarto , Mitigati, Chiamare il Re, and Partita which are played in Pinerolo and Turin . This deck is considered part of Piedmontese culture and appeared in the 2006 Winter Olympics closing ceremony held in Turin. As this was the standard tarot pack of the Kingdom of Sardinia , it was also formerly used in Savoy and Nice before their annexation by France. Additionally, it was used as an alternative to the Tarocco Siciliano in Calatafimi-Segesta , Sicily . Outside of Italy, it is used by a small number of players in Ticino , Switzerland and was used by Italian Argentines .

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59-520: This deck is not related to the non-tarot Piemontesi deck which uses French-suited hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs. As such, their cards are not interchangeable. This deck pattern was derived from the Tarot of Marseilles but was made reversible for modern game playing. It consists of 78 cards: a trump suit of 22 cards, numbered from 0 to 21, and four 14-card suits of swords ( spade ), batons ( bastoni ), cups ( coppe ), and coins ( denari ). Each suit has

118-534: A Bower , in Tarot card games as a Valet , is a playing card which, in traditional French and English decks, pictures a man in the traditional or historic aristocratic or courtier dress generally associated with Europe of the 16th or 17th century. The usual rank of a jack is between the ten and the queen . The Jack corresponds to the Unter in German and Swiss-suited playing cards . The earliest predecessor of

177-699: A 54-card deck like in Cego . How Piscina ranked his trumps is very similar to two other 16th century lists from Lombardy . All three lists are similar to the ranking of a sole surviving deck produced by Jacques Viéville of Paris around 1650, which has features found in Bolognese, Florentine, and Ferrarese tarots. This has led to speculation that players from Northwest Italy may have used decks similar to Viéville's until around 1700 when economic collapse drove regional cardmakers out of business. As no cards before this period survive, this theory cannot by substantiated. After

236-418: A deck using "J" instead of "Kn" to designate the lowest-ranking court card. The knave card had been called a jack as part of the terminology of the game All Fours since the 17th century, but this usage was considered common or low class. However, because the card abbreviation for knave was so close to that of the king ("Kn" versus "K"), the two were easily confused. This confusion was even more pronounced after

295-443: A king ( re ), queen ( donna ), knight ( cavallo ) and jack (unlabelled), pip cards numbered from 2 to 10, and an unnumbered card with an elaborate suit symbol which acts as the ace . Trumps and most pip cards have indices in modern Arabic numerals (for trumps, cups, and coins) or Roman numerals (for swords and batons). Unusually, in most games trump 20 outranks trump 21 (this may have been influenced by Bolognese games). The order of

354-566: A sword and the Jack of Spades a cane. The backs usually have ornate, often floral, designs. They were made by ASS Altenburger (as "Baronesse"), by VEB Altenburger (as "Rokoko") and Coeur in the past. The earliest examples had no corner indices; they appeared from about 1906 onwards. Since 1914, Piatnik have produced a derivative pattern for several of their patience packs that are referred to as Rococo playing cards. Jack (playing card) A Jack or Knave , in some games referred to as

413-407: A thieving antagonist in the traditional children's poem The Queen of Hearts The cards shown here are from a Paris pattern deck (where the rank is known as the "valet"), and include the historical and mythological names associated with them. The English pattern of jacks can be seen in the photo at the top of the article. The jack, traditionally the lowest face card, has often been promoted to

472-476: Is a cavalier ( knight ) ranking between the queen and the jack. Aside from these aspects, decks can include a wide variety of regional and national patterns, which often have different deck sizes . In comparison to Spanish , Italian , German , and Swiss playing cards , French cards are the most widespread due to the geopolitical, commercial, and cultural influence of France, the United Kingdom, and

531-408: Is basically an export version not subject to France's domestic stamp tax. Hence they lack the usual French court card names such as Alexander, Judith and Lancelot. Other differences from the portrait officiel are that: the jack of clubs has a triangular shield bearing the coat of arms of the former Spanish Netherlands (this is the main distinguishing feature); blue is usually replaced with green in

590-527: Is evidence of playing cards there from at least the 1450s and French suits were invented sometime after 1470. This would then explain why the English renamed French suits to the Latin ones with which they were familiar. Hence the clovers were called clubs and pikes were named after the swords ( spade ). The English started producing their own cards a century later. In 1628, the importation of foreign playing cards

649-583: Is king, queen, knight, jack, X, IX, ... I, while in the ranking of the cards in cups and coins is king, queen, knight, jack, 1, 2, ... 10. Tarot decks were in production in Pinerolo by 1505. The best description of 16th century Piedmontese tarot is by Francesco Piscina who wrote a discourse about it in Mondovì in 1565. Although his details about the game are sparse, his terminology strongly implies Bolognese and Florentine influence. Like in tarocchini , he treats

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708-537: Is similar to the Genoese packs but its face cards have a horizontal instead of diagonal dividing line and the aces are found in a decorative garland. They also come in the same number of cards as Genoese ones. The Piedmontese pattern was once used in neighboring Savoy as both were previously united until France annexed the latter in 1860. A 78-card tarot version of the Piedmontese pattern, complete with knights,

767-644: Is the Italian-suited Tarocco Piemontese , used in Tarot card games . A Parisian variant appeared in Bavaria in the mid-18th century where the king of diamonds wore a turban . This originates from the German-suited Old Bavarian pattern . The king of spades, who represents David in the older decks, does not hold a harp. This group is closely associated with animal tarots . The Russian pattern created during

826-627: Is used in Patience decks by many companies worldwide. The court cards are dressed in rococo period costumes and wear powdered wigs. The Kings are crowned and carry state regalia or, in the case of the King of Hearts, a pair of spectacles. The Queens, also crowned, sport jewellery; the Queen of Spades coquettishly brandishes a folding fan and the Queen of Diamonds a peacock feather fan. The Jacks are young gentlemen with tricorn hats. The Jack of Hearts carries

885-525: Is used in Germany's Black Forest to play Cego . The courts are based on a Frankfurt version of a Bavarian derivative. It is sold with 54 cards; the 5 to 10 of the red suits and the 1 to 6 of the black suits are removed. Real and fictional animals are displayed on the trump suit. Trumps have a pink panel in each end with an Arabic numeral to show its rank. The Industrie und Glück ("Diligence and Fortune") tarock deck of Central Europe uses Roman numerals for

944-563: The Knægt , symbol B (for Bonde ); in Sweden, the knekt , symbol Kn. The German nickname of Bauer ("farmer" or "peasant") often used for the Jacks, appears in English as the loanword, Bower , used for the top trumps (usually Jacks) in games of the euchre family as well as some games of German origin where the Jacks play a significant role, e.g. Reunion . In the English pattern, the jack and

1003-671: The Rhineland pattern. The kings have very thick beards. They have fallen out of popularity in Germany but are very common in Poland, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the Baltic states . They come in decks of 24 (no 2s to 8s), 32 (no 2s to 6s), or 52 cards, the latter of which may have up to three jokers in some countries. In 1895, Dondorf produced a deck on behalf of Adolph Wulff of Denmark. The king of diamonds holds an orb while

1062-709: The Tarot Nouveau began to spread across the country. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was an effort to create a competing deck in Chambéry using the Piedmontese version of the Paris pattern as the base for a new tarot pack, but ultimately proved unsuccessful. Reproductions of this pack have been made since 1984. French playing cards#Belgian-Genoese and Piedmontese patterns French-suited playing cards or French-suited cards are cards that use

1121-562: The Vendée with the latter two using the archaic Aluette cards. In the 19th century, corner indices and rounded corners were added and cards became reversible, relieving players from having to flip face cards right-side up. The index for aces and face cards usually follow the local language but most decks of the Paris pattern use the numeral "1" for aces. The French suited pack has spawned many regional variations known as standard patterns based on their artwork and deck size. The Paris pattern

1180-518: The 19th century still referred to the "knave". Note the exclamation by Estella in Charles Dickens 's novel Great Expectations : "He calls the knaves, jacks, this boy!" Knave was the proper term and it was considered uncouth to call them 'Jacks'. Nevertheless, in a few European countries, the equivalent of the name 'knave' for this card continues to the present. For example, in Denmark, it is

1239-641: The Dutch pattern. This is the second most common pattern in the world after the English pattern. Belgian packs come in either 32 or 52 cards as they do in France. It was named the Belgian-Genoese pattern because of its popularity in both places and is the national pattern of Belgium. Genoese type cards are identical to Belgian ones and often lack corner indices. They come in 36 (lacking 2s to 5s), 40 (lacking 8s to 10s) or 52-card packs. The Piedmontese pattern

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1298-457: The French suits of trèfles (clovers or clubs  ♣ ), carreaux (tiles or diamonds  ♦ ), cœurs (hearts  ♥ ), and piques (pikes or spades  ♠ ). Each suit contains three or four face/court cards . In a standard 52-card deck these are the valet ( knave or jack ), the dame ( lady or queen ), and the roi ( king ). In addition, in Tarot packs , there

1357-637: The Jack of Hearts; Hector (mythological hero of the Iliad ) for the jack of diamonds; and Lancelot or Judas Maccabeus for the jack of clubs. In some southern Italian decks, there are androgynous knaves that are sometimes referred to as maids. In the Sicilian Tarot deck, the knaves are unambiguously female and are also known as maids. As this deck also includes queens, it is the only traditional set to survive into modern times with two ranks of female face cards. This pack may have been influenced by

1416-576: The Netherlands itself. Its most distinguishing feature are scenic aces. Also found in Flanders , they come in decks of 32 (no twos to sixes) or 52 cards. The Trente et Quarante pattern is named after the game it is associated with. Unlike other patterns, it is usually found only in casinos. Although of German origin, this pattern is now produced only in Italy. They consist of 52 cards and no indices. Around 1870, Dondorf of Frankfurt produced

1475-728: The North-German pattern's Hamburg parent but their most distinguishing characteristic is that instead of having corner indices, white Arabic numerals are found within the pips closest to the corner. French-Swiss cards comes only in decks of 36 with no ranks from two to five. The Modern Portuguese pattern is a Parisian derivative from Germany. When it arrived in Portugal, the kings and jacks in hearts and diamonds swapped suits. The composition consists of 52 cards or until recently 40 cards. The latter had an unusual ranking (ace, king, jack, queen, eight, six–two). The jack ranking higher than

1534-592: The United States but more commonly found in Australia and New Zealand contains 11s, 12s, and red 13s to play the six-handed version of the Euchre variant 500 . In the late nineteenth century, they were also used for variants of draw poker and royal cassino . Decks marketed for Canasta often have card point values printed on the cards. Lyon was a major card exporter to German-speaking countries from

1593-649: The United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. Other reasons for their popularity were the simplicity of the suit insignia, which simplifies mass production, and the popularity of whist and contract bridge . The English pattern of French-suited cards is so widespread that it is also known as the International or Anglo-American pattern. Playing cards arrived in Europe from Mamluk Egypt around 1370 and were already reported in France in 1377. The French suit insignia

1652-477: The card was called the valet , the queen was inserted between the king and knight. The knight was subsequently dropped out of non- Tarot decks leaving the valet directly under the queen. The king-queen-valet format then made its way into England. As early as the mid-16th century the card was known in England as the knave which originally meant 'boy or young man', as its German equivalent, Knabe , still does. In

1711-515: The collapse, players resorted to importing the Tarot of Marseilles from France. When production resumed around 1735, the cards were almost identical to the Marseilles pattern, including the French captions. Efforts to localize the cards began in the early 19th century eventually resulting in the double-ended cards of today by the end of that century. After Savoy and Nice were annexed by France, players there continued using this deck until 1900 when

1770-581: The context of a royal household it meant a male servant without a specific role or skill; not a cook, gardener, coachman, etc. The French word valet means the same thing. The word 'Jack' was in common usage in the 16th and 17th centuries to mean any generic man or fellow, as in Jack-of-all-trades (one who is good at many things), Jack-in-the-box (a child's toy), or Jack-in-the-Pulpit (a plant). The term became more entrenched in card play when, in 1864, American cardmaker Samuel Hart published

1829-540: The crowns of the kings truncated by the frames of the cards and no discernible dividing line. The court figures are highly ornamented. Today's version by Piatnik is based on an 1885 Type A design by Neumayer. Type C was the earliest of three Vienna pattern types that were around at the turn of the 19th century. It originated in Sopron and Saxony and went on to become the standard pattern in Bohemia before giving way in

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1888-467: The day. They are usually in decks of 32 cards with the twos to sixes missing since skat , Germany's most popular card game, does not require a full deck. Decks of 36 cards (with the sixes) are for jass and tapp , a game played in Baden-Württemberg . Decks of 52 cards usually include three jokers but Zwickern decks have six jokers. The French-Swiss pattern shares the same descent from

1947-472: The early 19th-century is based on a Baltic version of a Bavarian derivative. The current appearance was finalized by Adolf Charlemagne . It usually contains 52 or 36 cards, the latter lacking ranks 2 to 5. The stripped deck is used to play Durak . They can be found in many countries that were once part of the Russian Empire or Soviet Union . Adler-Cego is the last remaining animal tarot and

2006-523: The early 20th-century, the firm Öberg & Son invented a new pattern unrelated to the old ones. This pattern has spread to neighboring Finland. The clothing for the figures in the court cards are color coordinated; green for spades, red for hearts, purple for clubs, and blue for diamonds. They are used in the standard 52-card format. Card makers from Rouen began exporting to England around 1480. According to David Parlett , Latin-suited cards must have already been circulating in England since there

2065-456: The fool , a suit of trumps depicting flowers, and corner indices, was printed in 1902 for Savoyard players. It was discontinued some time after 1910 but reproductions have been in print since 1984. The Chambéry rules that come with the deck are similar to Piedmontese tarot games but the ace ranked between the jack and the 10 like in Triomphe . Another playing card deck named after Piedmont

2124-626: The imperial and papal trumps as equals, a feature which still survives in Asti . Like in Bologna, the highest trump is the Angel which outranks the World. Excluding Piedicavallo , Piedmontese players persist in ranking the Angel as higher than the World despite their modern numbering. In addition, some players remove the lower ranking pip cards to create a 62-card deck like in Bologna; others go further to make

2183-460: The knave was the thānī nā'ib (second or under-deputy) in the Mamluk card deck. This was the lowest of the three court cards and like all court cards was depicted through abstract art or calligraphy. When brought over to Italy and Spain, the thānī nā'ib was made into the fante (an infantry soldier) and the sota (a page ranking below the knight card ) respectively. In France, where

2242-496: The last with corner indices and three jokers. The Lombard or Milanese pattern come in 40-card decks that is missing the 8s, 9s, and 10s and lack corner indices. The Lombard decks exported to Swiss Italian regions contain corner indices and also labels the ranks of the face cards. It is probably derived from the Lyonnais pattern and its offshoot, the extinct Provence pattern. The Tuscan or Florentine pattern, dating from

2301-708: The late 16th through the 18th centuries. While the Lyonnais pattern died out in most places, it survived in Austria and the Czech Republic and its modern incarnation is the Vienna pattern. Five types are recorded by the International Playing Card Society , all of them double-headed. Type A, also called the 'Large Crown' version of the pattern, emerged in the early 1800s and was based on the double-headed, Lyons export pattern, but with

2360-414: The markings indicating suits and rankings were moved to the corners of the card, a move which enabled players to "fan" a hand of cards without obscuring the individual suits and ranks. The earliest deck known of this type is from 1693, but such positioning did not become widespread until reintroduced by Hart in 1864, together with the knave-to-jack change. Books of card games published in the third quarter of

2419-441: The mid-19th century to Type D, also called the 'Small Crown' version of the Vienna pattern, since the crowns of the kings are visible in their entirety within the card frame. Type E appeared in the 1860s and, again, the crowns are partially cut off by the frames of the cards. It appears to have died out in the 1960s. Today the Vienna pattern in Austria comes in pack of 24 (lacking the 2s to 8s), 32 (lacking 2s to 6s), or 52 cards,

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2478-531: The mid-19th century, is the only French-suited deck that is not reversible in the present. Cards measure 58 × 88 mm but the Toscane Grandi by Modiano are 67 × 101 mm large. It has the same composition of cards as the Lombard pattern. There was another pattern called "Tuscan" but it has ceased printing since the 1980s. Dondorf of Frankfurt produced this pattern around 1900 and, today, it

2537-448: The obsolete Portuguese deck which also had female knaves. The modern Mexican pattern also has female knaves. The figure of the jack has been used in many literary works throughout history. Among these is one by 17th-century English writer Samuel Rowlands . The Four Knaves is a series of Satirical Tracts, with Introduction and Notes by E. F. Rimbault, upon the subject of playing cards. His "The Knave of Clubbs: Tis Merry When Knaves Meet"

2596-481: The other face cards represent no one in particular, in contrast to the historical French practice, in which each court card is said to represent a particular historical or mythological personage. The valets in the Paris pattern have traditionally been associated with such figures as Ogier the Dane (a knight of Charlemagne and legendary hero of the chansons de geste ) for the jack of spades; La Hire (French warrior) for

2655-588: The other hand holding a sceptre. The North-German pattern was created in Stralsund from a Hamburg derivative. It is familiarly known as the Berlin pattern , although this name arose from a misunderstanding about the origin of the cards which were formerly labelled as Berliner Spielkarten based on a finishing process used by that company. The crownless queens' hairstyles reflect the Biedermeier fashions of

2714-540: The other kings hold scepters. Many of the court designs were altered or swapped for the Swedish market. Presently, this pattern is printed only by Piatnik of Austria for export to Finland, which is why it is also known as the Finnish pattern . It is an amalgam of the original Dondorf and revised Swedish designs with the court indices numbered from 11 to 13. It comes in 52-card decks with three jokers. The Bourgeois Tarot

2773-772: The portraits and the diagonal dividing line lacks the beads. When the Ottoman Empire relaxed the ban against playing cards, Belgian type cards flooded their territory and are now found throughout the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East. They are also commonly found in France's former colonies. Within Belgium, the Francophone Walloons are the primary users of this pattern, while the Flemish prefer

2832-423: The present will contain at least two jokers, sometimes more. In Germany, packs produced for the game of Zwicker have six jokers. The Paris pattern came to dominate in France around 1780 and became known as the portrait officiel . From the 19th century to 1945, the appearance of the cards used for domestic consumption was regulated by the French government. All cards were produced on watermarked paper made by

2891-469: The queen comes from the older Portuguese-suited games where a female knave was outranked by the knight . They also use French-language indices. The Dutch pattern originates from Germany and shares the same parent as the Modern Portuguese pattern but with different queens, and has been produced for the Netherlands by Belgian card makers since the 19th century. It has rarely been produced in

2950-497: The queen in non-tarot decks, the French kept them and dropped the knight as the middle face card. Face card design was heavily influenced by Spanish cards that used to circulate in France. One of the most obvious traits inherited from Spain are the standing kings; kings from Italian, Portuguese , or Germanic cards are seated. Spanish-suited cards are still used in France, mostly in Northern Catalonia , and Brittany and

3009-415: The state to show payment of the stamp tax . The most common deck sold in France is the 32-card deck with the 2 to 6 removed and 1s as the index for aces. 52-card packs are also popular. The French have a unique habit of associating their face cards with historical or mythical personages which survives only in the portrait officiel . The Belgian-Genoese pattern is very similar to its Parisian parent and

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3068-470: The trumps, in most games played with this pack, is: The Fool "il matto" (0) is played as an excuse: it can beat nothing, but can always be played to a trick, relieving the holder from the obligation to follow suit. In only two games recorded in the 18th and 19th centuries is the Fool treated as the lowest trump. Like in most tarot games outside of France and Sicily, the order of the cards in swords and batons

3127-601: The trumps. It is organized in the same manner as the Adler-Cego decks. Its trumps feature a newer pattern of more mundane scenes, such as depictions of rural life, than the traditional allegorical motifs found in Italian tarocchi decks. The turban wearing king is now in the suit of spades. French-suited cards are popular in Central Europe and compete very well against local German-suited playing cards . Hamburg

3186-456: Was banned to protect local manufacturers. English cardmakers produced lower-quality cards than their continental counterparts leading to the loss of detail from the Rouennais pattern. The English pattern is the result of Charles Goodall and Son 's reworking of the old Rouen pattern during the 19th century. The majority of decks sold in this pattern is the 52-card deck . One deck invented in

3245-533: Was derived from German suits around 1480. Between the transition from the suit of bells to tiles there was a suit of crescents. One of the most distinguishing features of the French cards is the queen. Mamluk cards and their derivatives, the Latin-suited and German-suited cards , all have three male face cards. Queens began appearing in Italian tarot decks in the mid-15th century and some German decks replaced two kings with queens. While other decks abandoned

3304-635: Was designed by C.L. Wüst of Frankfurt in the mid-19th century. It is popular in Francophone Europe and Quebec and is also used in Denmark to play tarot games that require the full 78-card deck. Like the Industrie und Glück , the trumps depict genre scenes but modern editions use Arabic numerals instead of Roman ones. A 54-card version with different trump designs is used in Baden to play Cego . Swedes used to use Bavarian derived patterns. In

3363-433: Was first published in 1600, then again in 1609 and 1611. In accordance with a promise at the end of this book, Rowlands went on with his series of Knaves, and in 1612 wrote "The Knave of Harts: Haile Fellowe, Well Meet", where his "Supplication to Card-Makers" appears, thought to have been written to the English manufacturers who copied to the English decks the court figures created by the French. The Knave of Hearts appears as

3422-459: Was heavily exported throughout continental Europe which is why most French-suited patterns share a similar appearance. The English pattern, based on the extinct Rouennais pattern, is the most well known pattern in the world. It is also called the International or Anglo-American pattern. Patterns do not factor in Jokers , which came about in the early 20th century. Almost all 52-card packs produced in

3481-607: Was once a major card-producing hub where makers began revising the Paris pattern to create the Hamburg pattern . Early examples were made by Suhr (1814–28) in Hamburg itself, while other manufacturers of the pattern were based elsewhere in the German Empire, in Austria, Belgium, France, Sweden and Switzerland. The Hamburg cards generated a family of similar patterns, all of which have the King of Spades holding David's harp, with

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