Animal Tarot

Animal Tarot (German: Tiertarock) is a genre of tarot decks used for playing card games that were most commonly found in northern Europe, from Belgium to Russia, only one of which has survived: the Adler Cego pattern in south Germany. A theme of animals, real and/or fantastic, replaces the traditional trump scenes found in the Italian-suited tarot packs such as the Tarot of Besançon. The Sküs plays a musical instrument while the Pagat is represented by Hans Wurst, a carnival stock character who carries his sausage, drink, slap stick, or hat. They constitute the first generation of French-suited tarot patterns. Prior to their introduction, tarot card games had been confined to Italy, France, and Switzerland. During the 17th century, the game's popularity in these three countries declined and was forgotten in many regions. The rapid expansion of the game into the Holy Roman Empire and Scandinavia after the appearance of animal tarots may not be a coincidence. In the 19th century, most animal tarots were replaced with tarots that have genre scenes, veduta, opera, architectural or ethnological motifs on the trumps such as the Austro-Hungarian Industrie und Glück and the Franco-German Bourgeois Tarot.

History

Precursors

Early hunting decks, like the Stuttgart pack and Ambraser Hofjagdspiel, known to display wildlife as suits, date back to the second quarter of the fifteenth century. The contemporary da Tortona deck, one of the first trionfi, a predecessor of tarot, includes its trump set within its suits, depicting four types of birds.