Ethnological Tarot by Joseph Fetscher

Published June 10, 2026 • Updated June 11, 2026

Joseph Fetscher's inventive, ethnographic tarot from Munich c.1820.

This unusual tarot, published in Munich by Joseph Fetscher around 1820, belongs to a Bavarian tradition of inventive tarot-making that had diverged from conventional Italian iconography. Like many German packs of the period, it employs the emerging double-ended ("à deux têtes") format, making the cards easier to hold in play. All the cards have a decorative border. Fetscher was a notably innovative manufacturer whose output included animal, mythological and allegorical tarots. Zoom Fetscher's details on Trump II

Rather than depicting traditional allegorical trumps, this deck presents a sort of ethnographic panorama of the world's peoples, continents, monuments, ruins and wonders, reflecting the contemporary European fascination with geography, ethnography and distant cultures. They include a club-bearing Wild Man from Germanic folklore, a Chinese Mandarin, a Moroccan, the Aztec deity Huitzilopochtli, together with landscapes and exotic scenes at each end, (the deck is incomplete so the rest are missing). The court cards likewise depict people from distant lands.

Cartes “Ethnologiques” printed by Joseph Fetscher, Munich,c.1820. Bibliothèque nationale de France

Cards from Cartes “Ethnologiques” tarot pack printed by Joseph Fetscher, Munich, c.1820, (incomplete pack). Bibliothèque nationale de France

While educational and geographical card packs were popular in Germany during the early nineteenth century, this tarot organised around ethnographic themes makes it one of the more imaginative productions from Joseph Fetscher's diverse workshop.

Bibliothèque nationale de France : Cartes d'un jeu de tarot allemand à deux têtes, dit "ethnologique ►

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