Post by KittyLane on Jan 18, 2007 11:37:38 GMT -5
REVIEW: THE VICTORIA REGINA TAROT
========= Reviewed by Randall Sapphire
=========
The Victoria Regina Tarot
Author: Georg Patterson and Sarah Ovenall
Artist: Sarah Ovenall
Book and Cards Set
Publisher: Llewellyn
Publication date: March 2002
ISBN: 1567185312
US Retail Price: $34.95
View Sample Cards:
www.ecauldron.com/images/samtrtvrt.jpg
Amazon Link:
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567185312/thecauldron
Usually Llewellyn asks reviewers to request the books and decks
they wish to review, so I was surprised to receive a package from
Llewellyn that I had not requested. Inside I discovered a very
beautiful surprise, the Victoria Regina Tarot deck. My initial
reaction to seeing the deck was positive: my eyes grew big and I
said "Oh wow!" I have been a Sherlock Holmes fan since I was in
grade school, so the Victorian era has always interested and
fascinated me. As I am also a fan of Victorian era line art, this
review may be a bit more biased than usual (you have been
warned).
The art for the Victoria Regina Tarot deck is collages of steel
and wood engravings from the late Victorian era. This was the
height of this style of commercial illustration -- soon half
toning would replace it. Sarah Ovenall's collage work is
excellent. It is generally seamless, unlike some of the other
collage decks I have seen. The Victorian era was an age of
invention and technological progress. The cards capture this, as
well as the lavish elegance of Victorian high society. Even the
velvet deck bag with its tasseled drawstring seems to fit the
Victorian mood.
All the art is black and white. While this may upset some who are
used to the brilliant colors of many tarot decks, it actually
works quite well. The court cards are generally members of the
British Royal family. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are there,
of course, but also some of their children and grandchildren. The
suits of wands, swords, cups, and coins of the standard Tarot are
represented in this deck by pens, guns, mason jars, and pocket
watches respectively. These choices work much better than they
might appear at first glance as they capture the essence of the
era. The cards are larger than the current standard for Tarot
cards. While this is hard on smaller hands, the art needs the
larger cards. Reducing the card size would lose much of the fine
detail lines in the card art.
The companion book, Victoria Regina Tarot Companion, by Georg
Patterson and Sarah Ovenall, is well done. The first chapter sets
the stage, briefly describing the deck and the British Empire
during the Victorian era. The bulk of the volume is card
descriptions. Each card is illustrated, described in a sentence
or two, and provided with a long interpretation that usually
places the card in a historical context and explains how the card
affects the reading. A final paragraph usually notes the sources
of the some of the illustrations used in making the collage for
that card. The book proper concludes with a short chapter on
readings which includes two Tarot layouts designed for this deck:
Victoria's Sceptre and Victoria's Chalice. An appendix discusses
collage art and gives ideas for creating your own collage Tarot
deck.
I said that my initial reaction to seeing this deck was "Oh wow!"
That is still my reaction to it. It's the only collage Tarot deck
I have seen that I truly love. Sarah Ovenall has done a masterful
job of both collage art and Tarot deck creation. It is clear that
she has a real passion for both her medium and the Tarot. Despite
the "different" artwork, the deck looks, feels, and reads like a
Tarot deck -- quite an accomplishment. The only problems I see
with this set are that the size of the cards will make this deck
hard to shuffle and use for all but the large-handed and that the
book really could have used a few pages more of basic instruction
in the "reading" section for those completely new to Tarot. If
you are in the market for a new Tarot deck, I strongly recommend
adding the Victoria Regina Tarot to the list of decks you are
considering. If you are a fan of the Victorian era or of
Victorian art, you really have to see this deck. If you do see
it, however, I suspect your bank balance will regret it.
(Note that the sample cards had to be reduced much more than
usual to reach our standard sample image size and have lost much
of their fine detail. Please do not judge this deck's art by
these approximately one-quarter size images.)
This review is available on our web site at
www.ecauldron.com/trtvrt.php
========= Reviewed by Randall Sapphire
=========
The Victoria Regina Tarot
Author: Georg Patterson and Sarah Ovenall
Artist: Sarah Ovenall
Book and Cards Set
Publisher: Llewellyn
Publication date: March 2002
ISBN: 1567185312
US Retail Price: $34.95
View Sample Cards:
www.ecauldron.com/images/samtrtvrt.jpg
Amazon Link:
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567185312/thecauldron
Usually Llewellyn asks reviewers to request the books and decks
they wish to review, so I was surprised to receive a package from
Llewellyn that I had not requested. Inside I discovered a very
beautiful surprise, the Victoria Regina Tarot deck. My initial
reaction to seeing the deck was positive: my eyes grew big and I
said "Oh wow!" I have been a Sherlock Holmes fan since I was in
grade school, so the Victorian era has always interested and
fascinated me. As I am also a fan of Victorian era line art, this
review may be a bit more biased than usual (you have been
warned).
The art for the Victoria Regina Tarot deck is collages of steel
and wood engravings from the late Victorian era. This was the
height of this style of commercial illustration -- soon half
toning would replace it. Sarah Ovenall's collage work is
excellent. It is generally seamless, unlike some of the other
collage decks I have seen. The Victorian era was an age of
invention and technological progress. The cards capture this, as
well as the lavish elegance of Victorian high society. Even the
velvet deck bag with its tasseled drawstring seems to fit the
Victorian mood.
All the art is black and white. While this may upset some who are
used to the brilliant colors of many tarot decks, it actually
works quite well. The court cards are generally members of the
British Royal family. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are there,
of course, but also some of their children and grandchildren. The
suits of wands, swords, cups, and coins of the standard Tarot are
represented in this deck by pens, guns, mason jars, and pocket
watches respectively. These choices work much better than they
might appear at first glance as they capture the essence of the
era. The cards are larger than the current standard for Tarot
cards. While this is hard on smaller hands, the art needs the
larger cards. Reducing the card size would lose much of the fine
detail lines in the card art.
The companion book, Victoria Regina Tarot Companion, by Georg
Patterson and Sarah Ovenall, is well done. The first chapter sets
the stage, briefly describing the deck and the British Empire
during the Victorian era. The bulk of the volume is card
descriptions. Each card is illustrated, described in a sentence
or two, and provided with a long interpretation that usually
places the card in a historical context and explains how the card
affects the reading. A final paragraph usually notes the sources
of the some of the illustrations used in making the collage for
that card. The book proper concludes with a short chapter on
readings which includes two Tarot layouts designed for this deck:
Victoria's Sceptre and Victoria's Chalice. An appendix discusses
collage art and gives ideas for creating your own collage Tarot
deck.
I said that my initial reaction to seeing this deck was "Oh wow!"
That is still my reaction to it. It's the only collage Tarot deck
I have seen that I truly love. Sarah Ovenall has done a masterful
job of both collage art and Tarot deck creation. It is clear that
she has a real passion for both her medium and the Tarot. Despite
the "different" artwork, the deck looks, feels, and reads like a
Tarot deck -- quite an accomplishment. The only problems I see
with this set are that the size of the cards will make this deck
hard to shuffle and use for all but the large-handed and that the
book really could have used a few pages more of basic instruction
in the "reading" section for those completely new to Tarot. If
you are in the market for a new Tarot deck, I strongly recommend
adding the Victoria Regina Tarot to the list of decks you are
considering. If you are a fan of the Victorian era or of
Victorian art, you really have to see this deck. If you do see
it, however, I suspect your bank balance will regret it.
(Note that the sample cards had to be reduced much more than
usual to reach our standard sample image size and have lost much
of their fine detail. Please do not judge this deck's art by
these approximately one-quarter size images.)
This review is available on our web site at
www.ecauldron.com/trtvrt.php