ACE OF CUPS, c.1949
Watercolour and ink. 7½ x 7½in. (19.2 x 19cm.)
Titled on the face of the work.
Provenance
National Trust bequest.
Tate Gallery Archive.
Exhibited
London, AIA Gallery, 1949, no. 58.
This, and the related works Ace of Discs; Ace of Swords and Ace of Wands, refer to the Tarot pack of cards. Use of the Tarot formed an important part of Golden Dawn workings. The cards have complex symbolic meanings, said to be traceable to ancient Egypt and the Quabalistic Tree of Life. Original research on the Tarot was done by (or revealed to) MacGregor Mathers. According to Mathers, ‘the four Aces stand out by themselves from the rest of the pack, each forming, as it were, the Key of its respective suit.'
Colquhoun has based her images on the conventional Golden Dawn design, of an angelic hand, issuing from clouds, and supporting on its palm a cup, resembling the cup of the Stolistes.
Colquhoun’s card dispenses with everything but the cup, which has become a chalice Its body resembles a white crescent moon. This is balanced by a yellow solar shape floating above. The background is blue, as befits the card whose suit is associated with the element of water.
In 1977 Colquhoun executed a complete pack of Tarot cards.
The Ace of Cups is also known as The Root of the Powers of the Waters.