In the 1940s André Breton and a group of his Surrealist friends (Wifredo Lam, Max Ernst, Jacqueline Lamba, Oscar Dominguez, Victor Brauner, Jacques Hérold, André Masson and Frédéric Delanglade) were stranded in the French port of Marseilles whilst attempting to escape Nazi-occupied Europe and gain passage to America. Having deconstructed traditional, bourgeois playing card symbolism they produced new, liberated designs expressing their own beliefs and values. The court cards were persons representing new, revolutionary ideals. As Breton was a Communist, the conventional court hierarchy denoting military power and rank was unacceptable: these were re-named Genius, Siren and Magus... Having deconstructed traditional playing card designs, Breton wanted a thorough reinvention along Surrealist principles. The suits were renamed: Locks (black) for knowledge, Wheels (red) for revolution, Stars (black) for dreams and Flames (red) for love and desire. Surrealist ideas inspired many young artists to move away from conventional views of artistic composition towards abstract expressionism. The “Jeu de Marseille” was eventually produced as a full deck of cards (with the original sketches being reworked slightly) in 1983 and has been reprinted several times. From: https://www.wopc.co.uk/france/grimaud/le-jeu-de-marseille

Card size is standard for Jeu de Tarot decks - 6.1 cm x 11.2 cm (2.4" x 4.4")

French style Tarot deck where the major arcana is replaced with characters from the pages of Asterix The Gaul

This is a vintage Tarot Playing Card Set by Carta Mundi. This is a French deck and includes the original red and gold box, a Tarot Card instruction leaflet (in French), 78 cards, and also a hand written English translation, presumably produced by a former owner and a nice touch. The set was made in Belgium.