78 cards deck

Card size: 11.5 x 6.6cm

Packaged in a handmade, hand-painted envelope

First limited edition – numbered and signed on a bonus card

Adam C. de Hautot Tarot is the result of three years of research, rendering and restoration.

Restoration of the Adam C. de Hautot Tarot

To redraw the tarot of Adam C. de Hautot, I referred to the two extant copies of this iconic tarot, preserved in the Musée Français de la Carte à Jouer (Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris), and the Deutsches Spielkartenmuseum (Leinfelden-Echterdingen). It is good to know that both museums have incomplete decks, and that even after combining the two copies, there are still a few missing cards. Fortunately enough, the Musée des Beaux-Arts (Dunkerque, France) owns several copies plus an envelope. That discovery came very late in my redrawing process as the museum has been closed since 2015, and I have been able to redraw the last missing cards based on an original. By carefully comparing the borders of each card, I was also able to reassemble the original layout of the uncut sheets and assign them to their original place on the seven unique molds. My approach to tarot restoration is always to preserve as faithfully as possible the character of the original woodcuts. In my redrawing, reconnecting the borders allowed me to render every details and variations of the checkered pattern frame around the cards.

Colouring the Digital Print Edition

An innovative process combining hand-colouring and digital art allowed me to reconstruct the traditional colouring methods. Each of the six colours was applied by hand, using separate stencil sheets. This four-step process facilitates organic colour-blending and produces a more subtle result. Next, a high-definition scan was digitally overlaid with the textured line drawing, and paper scans from the same time period for the background. This hybrid technology adheres to Tarot Sheet Revival’s goal of authentically expressing the poetic character of historical tarots.

Particularities of the Adam C. de Hautot Tarot 

The Adam C. de Hautot belongs to the “Rouen-Brussels” pattern, matching the tarots made by Brussels card makers. Trump card II is CAPITANO FRACASE – LES PAGN OL instead of La Papesse, and BACUS replaces Le Pape. This tarot has a very unique style and could be considered a bridge between the Vieville and the Belgian tarot. LIMPERATRICE and LEMPEREVR have changed places, becoming IIIII and III respectively, while LE.FOL is numbered XXII. A skeleton can be seen among the figures of LE.IUGEMENT card, and that is unique. LE.PENDV is oriented head up, with a thick black line as a rope running from the top of his head to the top of the card. The depiction of Fortuna in LE MONDE and the checkered pattern are similarities with the “Anonyme Parisien” tarot.

Adam C. de Hautot, card maker in Rouen.

Adam C. de Hautot was a Rouen business owner belonging to the de Hautot familly, active in the 17th and 18th Century. It is difficult to tell with absolute certainty, which of the three Adam manufactured this tarot. But the words “AU COEUR ROYAL” associated with his name on several cards and on the envelope can be found on an archive giving the dates 1723-1728. This card maker, Adam C. de Hautot, is known from 1723 to 1748.