Whisker, Quill, Feather, Gill

February 28, 2008 8:12 AM

The Fantastic Menagerie:a literally beastly Tarot deck resplendent with 19th century artwork by J.J. Grandville, which you can find plenty more of here [Projects].

Thanks to soma lkzx for bringing the deck to my attention, and renraw for the great Projects post!

posted by hermitosis (14 comments total)

is that bad that the first thing i thought of were furries?
posted by fuzzypantalones at 8:28 AM on February 28, 2008

1. That's pretty cool.
2. The ratio of mice:foxes is too high.
3. The sun is a big cock.
posted by Wolfdog at 8:30 AM on February 28, 2008

is that bad that the first thing i thought of were furries?

Based on your username, I'd say it's just business as usual.

I'm charmed most of all by the Aces, each of which features an animal caring for a changeling infant. It's an amazing re-interpretation, IMO.
posted by hermitosis at 8:34 AM on February 28, 2008

Fantastic is right! Great find.
posted by Drexen at 9:00 AM on February 28, 2008

Based on your username, I'd say it's just business as usual.

oof. guess you got me there.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 9:16 AM on February 28, 2008

These are wonderful. Thanks for posting.
posted by BT at 9:17 AM on February 28, 2008

Oh, these are gorgeous. I love Death as a stalking heron - look out, frogs!
posted by rtha at 9:26 AM on February 28, 2008

2. The ratio of mice:foxes is too high.

The magical forest tarot should have enough foxes to sate you. also applicable if you need cats with swords, polar bears with lamps, or any other animal bundled up in rider-waite imagery.
posted by soma lkzx at 10:01 AM on February 28, 2008

The Devil is a cat.

This comes as a surprise to no one.
posted by quin at 10:03 AM on February 28, 2008

The magical forest tarot should have enough foxes to sate you.
Oh. Oh my! Yes.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:11 AM on February 28, 2008

The Devil is a cat.

No no... it's Batcat. He's just misunderstood.
posted by fusinski at 10:40 AM on February 28, 2008

Temperance is supposed to have one foot in the water. At least classically. This looks like another one of those decks that looks good but doesn't adhere to the content of the original tarot. It looks like it incorporates some of the spirit of the tarot; each card is supposed to tell a story. There's no rule that those stories can't change, though.
posted by Eideteker at 11:31 AM on February 28, 2008

These are really good, nice find.
posted by nola at 5:08 PM on February 28, 2008

Grandville is fucking amazing. Here's a previous thread about him from a year ago, including a link to all of his stunning color illustrations for Les Fleurs Anime, which aren't up at renraw's cool site yet. Mefite peacay has a great post about him at BibliOdysey, too.
posted by mediareport at 7:37 PM on February 28, 2008