About tarotgraphe
Creating tarot as they were during the XVII and the XVIII th century is my mission.
Tarotgraphe is one of the last Cartier which offer handcrafted decks reproduced as they traditionaly were and also manufactured decks.
My goal is to offer historical Tarots de Marseille, which are as faithful as possible to the Tarots that could be found on the market in the 17th and 18th centuries, at an affordable price.
My approach consists in flushing out from museums and private collections, tarots of Marseille type 1 that have never or very little been marketed so far.
The goal is to diversify the offer of historical Tarots de Marseille by offering to everyone the possibility to make tarot readings with deck that have not been republished for centuries.
our production method
research of new tarot and pictures
The very first step consists in researching a new Marseille tarot to restore.
For that step, I contact museums and private collectors to ask them if they have some interresting decks in their collection.
If they do, then, I have to negotiate the terms of the contract of reproduction to obtain the right to commercialize this new tarot.
When terms of contract are negotiated, I have to take pictures of the deck or asking them to take pictures if the museum is too far away from me.
The restoration
The second step is to restaure the deck with Photoshop.
I always do my best to restore the colors according to my knowledge in history of art.
The aim is to recreate the colors exactly as they were.
Sometimes some letters are erased so I have to restore them and I also have to repair some holes in the paper.
My work consist to create tarot decks as they were when they were printed in the past, keeping the original defaults of production (old woodcut, painting, etc) but erasing the time damages.
HD PRINTING
The next step is to print the decks in High Definition so I print it at home in Aix en Provence using the best professional technology.
I print the face and the back of my decks in two different sheets of paper.
the paper
To print my decks I use 2 sheets of 160 gsm sticks together with a natural starch glue made with corn and an antique cast.
The paper itself is a textured handmade french cotton paper
During the XVII and the XVIII th century, the paper wasn’t as smooth as today, that’s why I also use textured paper for my decks.
This quality of paper is exactly the same that was used by maîtres cartiers of Provence from the XVIII th century (and few times during the XVII th century).
In the XVIII th century, they used 2 differents sheets of paper of 160 gsm for a total of 320 gsm because thicker paper didn’t exist.
the smoothing
Today, all the modern decks have plastic laminations or patent to protect the cards, to get them thicker and more slippery.
But during the XVII th century and the XVIII th century, plastic laminations didn’t exist so card makers were applying soap from Marseille (savon de Marseille) on the cards to replace the lamination.
They were applying the soap on the cards, then they smoothed the soap with a stone.
This long operation (10mn by card) gives also better colours to the cards, a pleasant touch and a tasty smell from Provence (olive oil) to the cards.
When the melted soap is dry, it looks like there is a dry wax on the cards and there is no need to apply the soap again in the future, this will stay for life.
In my mind, this operation gives a soul to the cards and create a great difference betwin the manufactured cards and the handcrafted cards.
This is why I use biological soap with olive oil made in Marseille for my handcrafted cards.
the HAND CUt
The last operation consist on cuting the SRA3 sheet (12 cards by sheet).
For this operation I use a guillotine to cut all the deck.
I do my best to cut the cards as perfect as possible.
It’s a long and a careful operation.
the packaging
When the deck is ready, you can order it wrapped like it used to be in the past or you can choose to order an handcrafted box made with love.
My handcrafted box are decorated, handpainted and varnished to withstand time.
As they are handmade, every handcrafted box are differents and they all have a special unique design.
Finaly, To create a full 78 cards deck, we have to spend one full day of work (about 9-10 ours).
the blessing
In order for your decks to be invested by the divine presence, each handcrafted deck is blessed before shipping.
Our blessing, is made accordingly to the “Roman Benedictional”, the aim is to energetically cleanse your decks and to invest them with the Holy Spirit so the love and goodness of God may be manifested through your tarots of Marseille.
This blessing also protects your tarot from demonic influences and evil spirits.
ROUNDED CORNERS
You can custom your deck with rounded corners.
Which team do you belong to ?
Team obtuses corners or team rounded corners ?
Initialy, most of tarot cards had obtuse corners, rounded corners appeared later in the history of playing cards.
Obtuse corners are more elegants but they are more fragile.
It’s why I decided to offer you the possibility to custom your tarot decks with rounded corners of 3mm only.
So the cards are still looking traditional but they are strongest.
Rounded corners are available in option for every deck.
our manufactured decks
As democratizing tarot is my mission of life, Tarotgraphe also offer high quality manufactured decks for a very competitive price (19€ for 22 trumps deck and 39€ for a 78 cards deck).
Today, most of tarot decks are printed in China because they offer a very interresting price but in my opinion producing in China is not ecological and not ethic.
It’s why I also decided to print my manufactured decks in Aix en Provence even if it’s more expensive.
So I can offer short circuits deck production to contribute to the green revolution.
about us
Who are we ?
Tarotgraphe is a small family business owned by Roxane and Florent GIRAUD.
Our workshop is inside our flat in Aix en Provence (20mn from Marseille).
Aix was a big center of playing card production during the XVII and the XVIII th century.
Florent has been a passionate collector of historic Tarot de Marseille for almost ten years. He is in charge of the restoration work.
After studying history of art during 3 years, it was in 2023 that he gave birth to “Tarotgraphe”, a company specialized in the restoration and the publishing of old tarots de Marseille.
Since 2024, Roxane joined the team, she is in charge of the customer service.
Why I created “Tarotgraphe”
“It was in seeking to acquire certain Tarots de Marseille that were not present on the market that I came up with the idea of setting up my own company to reissue old Tarot.
Particularly fond of the Tarots of Marseille type 1, Tarotgraphe is specialized in the restoration and marketing of this type of tarot.
If the Tarots of Marseille type 2 are today marketed en masse, the offers concerning the Tarots of Marseille type 1 are much rarer and come to lack.
That is why I decided to compensate for this deficiency by giving birth to Tarotgraphe.”
