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| Posted: Fri Sep 21st, 2007 02:30 am |
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1st Post |
OnePotato
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Here are some photos of Mr & Mrs OnePotato's new crown jewel...
An original circa 1812 Ferdinando Gumppenberg Tarocchi Fini.
77 of 78 original cards present.
The King of Cups is a modern replacement.
(If anyone knows where to find an original vintage replacement, please let me know! ;))
Condition is quite excellent.
Just a few dirt spots, and light wear.
The deck has a faint smell of old age.
Hard to describe, but I can remember it from my grandmother's house, long ago.
It's fairly small, at 10.6 x 5.2cm, and tightly trimmed.
This small size adds to the jewel-like miniature qualities of the deck.
The finely detailed engraving and hand coloring is marvelous!
Card faces are varnished, or "polished", for a very nice surface quality.
Even after 200 years, this deck has an aura of top quality production about it that shines through.
http://members.aol.com/fiveoakleaves/onepotato/Gump/03GumpMajors.jpg
Tax stamp on the Ace of Swords is for Italy under French rule, valid 1807-1815.
The Ace of Coins has an ink smear, obviously from the manufacture.
I've noticed something very interesting about the signature on the Ace of Cups.
http://members.aol.com/fiveoakleaves/onepotato/Gump/04GumpAces.jpg
I don't know if the box is original, or later.
I don't really have any particular reason to doubt it, but it seems too good to be true.
Note the incorrect spelling of "Gumppenberg" on the front.
Has anyone ever seen or heard of a box for this deck?
http://members.aol.com/fiveoakleaves/onepotato/Gump/01GumpBox.jpg
http://members.aol.com/fiveoakleaves/onepotato/Gump/02GumpBox.jpg
Backs appear to be red letterpress "flowers".
(You can see that the image is lightly pressed into the paper.)
http://members.aol.com/fiveoakleaves/onepotato/Gump/05GumpCourts.jpg
This is one fine deck.
Bravo, Master Gumppenberg!
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| Posted: Fri Sep 21st, 2007 03:01 am |
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2nd Post |
debra
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My goodness, the condition of this looks to be exquisite!
What about the 2 of cups signature....?
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| Posted: Fri Sep 21st, 2007 04:34 am |
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3rd Post |
Papageno357
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as i was saying on the ATF thread, congratulations!!!
as for the "incorrect" spelling, I personally believe that's simply a dialectic preference on the part of whoever made the box.
just as the tites on the Veneziani by Maria Cristina Venditti, reflect (by intent) the Ventian dialect, instead of the cosmopolitan Roman
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| Posted: Fri Sep 21st, 2007 09:00 am |
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4th Post |
debra
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Hm. I've got the Il Meneghello reproduction of the 1810 Gumppenberg (Tarocco Neoclassico, 2003). The Ace of Cups there is signed:
Fabbricatore
Gumppenberg
There are differences in coloration (for example, of the snakes beneath the Hermit's foot).
Showing my ignorance, how many different versions of the 1810 "neoclassical" Gumppenberg's are there?
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| Posted: Sat Sep 22nd, 2007 05:36 am |
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5th Post |
OnePotato
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It's possible, but the spelling on the box differs from the spelling on the Two of Cups signature.
I know a rare book dealer, so I'm thinking of showing her the box to try to verify the age.
Papageno357 wrote: ...as for the "incorrect" spelling, I personally believe that's simply a dialectic preference on the part of whoever made the box.
just as the tites on the Veneziani by Maria Cristina Venditti, reflect (by intent) the Ventian dialect, instead of the cosmopolitan Roman
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| Posted: Sat Sep 22nd, 2007 06:04 am |
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6th Post |
OnePotato
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debra wrote: Hm. I've got the Il Meneghello reproduction of the 1810 Gumppenberg (Tarocco Neoclassico, 2003). The Ace of Cups there is signed:
Fabbricatore
Gumppenberg
There are differences in coloration (for example, of the snakes beneath the Hermit's foot).
Showing my ignorance, how many different versions of the 1810 "neoclassical" Gumppenberg's are there?
Hi Debra.
Yes, that's it.
http://members.aol.com/fiveoakleaves/onepotato/Gump/06GumpSigs.jpg
The Il Meneghello, and the Kaplan version (Illustrated in both the Encyclopedia and the Christie's catalog) both have the "Fabbricatore / Gumppenberg" signature, as compared to the "Gumppenberg / Fabricatore in Milano" on mine.
(I believe the Lo Scarabeo has the same sig as mine.)
In looking at them, I believe mine is the older, because both the italic slant and the character of the script better match the rest of the deck. This suggests it was all done at the same time. The Il Meneghello is at a slightly different angle, and of a slightly different character. It is also slightly crooked, suggesting it was added later, by a different hand.
I can see several small pits in the plate that have left small dots in the background, so it is almost certainly the same master plate that is used for both versions. (Only the signature area differs.)
It is possible to fill or rub out an area on an engraved plate, and then re-engrave it anew. So it appears that he wanted to remove the "Milano" from the deck at a later date. I'm sure there's some logical, historical reason for this, but I haven't found any explanation yet.
I also haven't found any discussion or mention of multiple editions. The tax stamp is the same, so they all would appear to date from the same general time, but there were obviously multiple printings over the active time period.
I also noticed that Kaplan's copy, with the altered signature, has blue backs, instead of red.
One of these days I'll have to get the reprints in order to compare the variations in color. Generally, they appear pretty similar, but there are probably a lot of differences in the details. I'm curious to see if stencils were used, or if it is all done by hand.
Last edited on Sat Sep 22nd, 2007 06:27 am by OnePotato
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| Posted: Sat Sep 22nd, 2007 06:54 am |
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7th Post |
debra
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*jaw drops* o really?
As for the alternate spelling on the box....I think it's only relatively recently that we are all expected to maintain consistency in how we spell our names...look at the Shakespeare controversy!
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