Death was the first card I designed, and it set the tone for the rest of the deck. At the time, I wasn't thinking about a full deck; I was just making a design for Halloween. I was inspired by the almost cultish obsession Victorians had for the departed, particularly in their mourning attire and jewelry. We're all familiar with the black dresses worn to signal recent bereavement, but Victorians also made jewelry out of body parts. Yes, locks of hair set in broaches and rings, but also truly macabre pieces like brooches and rings set with your loved one's teeth. The three pieces of jewelry worn by the Death cat are based on real pieces from the Victorian era. The skull she holds is a cat skull. The white lily is a flower of mourning. Since I hadn't yet decided to make a full deck, her dress is slightly more inspired by modern Lolita fashion than authentic Victorian. 

Another card that depicts Victorian mourning is the nine of pentacles, but it makes a very different statement. It's also one of the cards I point to when asked what I mean by "darkly humorous." This card's meanings revolve around independence, material security, and self-sufficiency. When pondering how to depict that in the Victorian era, what kept leaping to mind was that the best way to obtain those things as a woman at the time was to inherit them. But if you inherited from a parent or other family member, then you were expected to marry, which would give your husband control of your money. So, inheriting money from a spouse was how a woman might have her status as a married woman and her financial independence. Many marriages were business transactions. This card shows a young widow, finally free, with a photograph of her elderly and grumpy-looking late husband behind her.