Kim Arnold arranged an outing for the UK Tarot Conference to Smallhythe Place, the country home of Ellen Terry, where Pamela Colman Smith visited often. When Kim and I went there last December we thought the surrounding landscape looked very much like that found in several of the Minor Arcana cards. Kim, who lives only about about an hour away, commented that the trees were unusual and totally unlike those found near her home, so we came up with the theory that Pixie had retreated to Smallhythe when she had to complete “a big job for very little cash” in very little time, and that she used some of the local views in her cards. Here’s a detail from one of her drawings left at Smallhythe.
Kim asked the archivists if they could find all the Pamela Colman Smith works that were in storage and have them on display for the tarot group. It turned out that there were several pictures that had had not been documented previously. Kim has thoughtfully arranged these for everyone to see on this youtube video.
You can find a list of the documented PCS material kept at Smallhythe here. Katharine Cockin sent word that you can find more references to PCS at the Ellen Terry and Edith Craig Database (just search on her name).
See more pictures and commentary from this outing at the Students of Tarot website.
My main list of Pamela Colman Smith resources is located here.
Come to the UK Tarot Conference in London, October 2010.
Mary K. Greer has made tarot her life work. Check here for reports of goings-on in the world of tarot and cartomancy, articles on the history and practice of tarot, and materials on other cartomancy decks. Sorry, I no longer write reviews. Contact me
Mary K. Greer's Tarot Blog 
16 comments
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March 28, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Julia
Really cool to see some of the inspirations for these designs I know so well. They feel such a part of me now, after my thirty years of using the Rider-Waite deck, that I tend to forget them in the “art” sense–as paintings. She was a talented, skillful artist, especially in that art deco sensibility. Thank you for sharing.
March 28, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Helen
Wonderful to see these, thanks for sharing Mary.
March 28, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Janet Berres
Mary, thank you for giving us some thoughts and pictures from Smallhythe Place. It is truly exciting to look at the photo and feel a part of Pamela’s past, and brings the tarot to life for me, as if I am looking through her eyes!
Warmly,
Janet
March 29, 2010 at 3:43 am
Catherine
Thank you for sharing these Mary, so good to have these new perspectives on the RWS deck.
March 29, 2010 at 6:11 am
Lalia Wilson
Thank you for this post. I really liked the video. It was almost as though I could have been there. Such a nice excursion on an early spring morning.
March 29, 2010 at 6:31 am
Kim Arnold
It really was an inspiring day, I was thrilled that the National Trust had gone to so much trouble for us, in fact they said they found some of Pamela’s artwork they they did not know they had. The Theatre at Smallhythe Place had been laid out especialy for us, with a long table of her previously unseen work, it was a wonderful tribute to her.
I definately saw in one painting (in my opinion) a template for the 9 Pentacles, the colourful painting of the two children, the historian thought these may have been templates for her Jamacian Folklore book. We did have a very exciting find linking her directly to the Golden Dawn but I just need to check a few facts beforfe I say to much. I will get round to writing a review very soon with all the news.
March 29, 2010 at 8:12 am
Maria
Thank you for sharing this – wish I could have been there. I can see reflections of the scenes and characters that belong to the RWS deck in several of the pieces displayed in this video. I’m sure I will notice even more each time I replay it. What an awesome collection! The time has come for it to be truly appreciated.
March 29, 2010 at 8:59 am
rebeca
Thanks for sharing, Mary. The video was moving. It somehow makes our beloved tarot cards more alive.
March 29, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Melissa
Remarkable and inspiring. It does make the tarot even more alive to me as Rebeca suggests. Her pieces portraying religious figures are surprising to me but also provide some link to her becoming a Catholic later in life.
March 29, 2010 at 1:10 pm
mkg
Melissa –
I believe the “religious figures” were theatrical roles that Ellen Terry and Henry Irving played on the stage. Pixie did occasional costume and set design and seemed to enjoy painting her foster mother in her many roles.
March 29, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Pytheas
The visit to Smallhythe was great – the place had a lovely atmosphere of past laughter and fun, as well as history… and wobbly floors and walls!
I took some photos of the Pixie material that was made available, and they’re at the page: http://www.students-of-tarot.com/pcs/Smallhythe and links from that. Included are some photos of the stained glass windows at the local church that Pixie must have visited as it was only 75 yards or so from Smallhythe itself. I was hoping to find some correspondences with the cards but couldn’t match anything.
There’s so much material that the National Trust has about Ellen Terry, (including 200 of Ellen Terry’s costumes not on show due to lack of space) that it must have taken a while to extract the Pixie paintings and prints, so a big “thank you” to them, and to Kim for organising the visit.
March 29, 2010 at 1:50 pm
mkg
Thank you, Pytheas. Beautiful pictures and great links.
March 29, 2010 at 6:42 pm
roppo
Allow me write in here. The youtube video on Smallhythe and PCS is really great. Big Thanks to Arnold Kim! I knew Smallhythe has Elle Terry-reralted PCS collection but until now I had no chance to see the contents. O, and Big Thanks to Pythias too for the photos!
April 10, 2010 at 9:21 am
Theresa
Thank you for this post and for sharing this information! The video is especially cool.
April 29, 2010 at 10:14 am
linda
Wow, it’s great to see somewhere that one of the world’s greatest psychic artists has visited. I think I read somewhere that she died in poverty. Shame
March 18, 2013 at 12:46 pm
Melissa
I have to say I really enjoyed the Pamela Coleman Tribute video. Was A nice touch to add to this post. Blessings to you.