Victorian Flower
Oracle inspired by Grandville's Les Fleurs Animees with Victorian floral and animal themes.
by Alex Ukolov, Karen Mahony, Sheila Hamilton · Magic Realist Press · 1847
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The record
The Victorian Flower Oracle is the second Grandville-inspired deck from the creative team at Magic Realist Press. The Fantastic Menagerie Tarot was based on one of JJ Grandvilles social satire, while this Oracle deck is based upon another of Grandvilles works, Les Fleurs Animees. First published in Paris in 1847, the book was translated into English as The Flowers Personified and was illustrated by hand-coloured plates of woman as flowers. The Victorians loved flowers and also used bouquets to convey specific messages through the positioning and types of flowers. According to the companion book, they had elaborate systems to explain the popular language of flowers: the red rosebud turned to the left in a bouquet, meaning you are pure and lovely, or wild tansy with the less-encouraging message, I declare against you. The Victorian Flower Oracle follows this floral theme and that of Les Fleurs Animees, with the central focus of each card the flower-personified, a woman in the dress and hair-style of the mid-nineteenth century and wound about with the leaves and petals of her type of flower. All of the 40 Oracle cards are attractive, with scenes of life and living linked with
The cards
