The World

A dancing figure moves within a great laurel wreath, a wand in each hand, and at the four corners the man, eagle, bull, and lion look on. Pamela Colman Smith drew it in 1909 as the deck's last card — completion, the circle closed, the sequence that began with the Fool arriving home. Smith completed the full seventy-eight in a matter of months for a flat fee, and for a century the finished world of her work carried everyone's name but hers. Look for the two poles of the wreath, the four living creatures, and the small 'PCS' monogram low in the frame.

Maker

Pamela Colman Smith, for A. E. Waite

Date

1909

Medium of the original

Plate

Original held by

Published London, 1909 · scan: Wikimedia Commons

Credit

Published London, 1909 · scan: Wikimedia Commons

Rights

Public domain, verified

Catalogue number

PA-00448