500 piece puzzle, "The Thames on Ice" by James McNeill Whistler, FX Schmid/USA.
This beautiful little puzzle was made in 1993 in FX Schmid's Salem, N.H. factory, which produced a broad range of puzzles during that era for the U.S. market, altogether different from its German counterpart. They may even have distributed to mainstream chain stores, as these puzzles are fairly easy to find today on second-hand sites, but if they were, I never encountered them during that time. Ravensburger acquired FX Schmid around 2000 and their U.S. offices are now located in nearby Newton, N.H., making me wonder if part of the acquisition - besides eliminating a competitor - was to establish an American presence. After 2000, Ravensburger puzzles seem to have become more widely distributed in the U.S.
The puzzle was very enjoyable to build, and a nice change from the boring Chinese-made puzzles I've been doing recently. The cut is noteworthy - it's a ribbon-style strip cut, but in contrast to the ribbon cut puzzles I've seen (especially from Falcon and Waddingtons), the ribbons are offset on both the x and y axis, and often each ribbon is only 4 or 5 pieces long (sometimes only one) before an interruption. In some places, the ribbon makes a 90 degree turn. It reminded me of the Laurel Ink puzzle I recently made, which also has this same style - a perfect grid, but with pieces offset in both axes and with no obvious pattern. I don't see this variation described in Bob Armstrong's glossary of piece styles. I think it would be fair to call this an American style ribbon cut (or, perhaps, random ribbon cut), in contrast to the English style, probably modeled after the Victory ribbon cut.
Whistler was an American artist who is best known for his portrait of his mother, one of the most famous 19th century American portraits. His work has great texture and often a moody atmosphere. The puzzle seems darker than this photo would suggest.
Completed in 2 hr., 12 mins. with no box reference. 15.8 secs./piece; 227.3 pcs./hr. Difficulty rating: 1.6/10.
500 piece puzzle, "The Thames on Ice" by James McNeill Whistler, FX Schmid/USA.
This beautiful little puzzle was made in 1993 in FX Schmid's Salem, N.H. factory, which produced a broad range of puzzles during that era for the U.S. market, altogether different from its German counterpart. They may even have distributed to mainstream chain stores, as these puzzles are fairly easy to find today on second-hand sites, but if they were, I never encountered them during that time. Ravensburger acquired FX Schmid around 2000 and their U.S. offices are now located in nearby Newton, N.H., making me wonder if part of the acquisition - besides eliminating a competitor - was to establish an American presence. After 2000, Ravensburger puzzles seem to have become more widely distributed in the U.S.
The puzzle was very enjoyable to build, and a nice change from the boring Chinese-made puzzles I've been doing recently. The cut is noteworthy - it's a ribbon-style strip cut, but in contrast to the ribbon cut puzzles I've seen (especially from Falcon and Waddingtons), the ribbons are offset on both the x and y axis, and often each ribbon is only 4 or 5 pieces long (sometimes only one) before an interruption. In some places, the ribbon makes a 90 degree turn. It reminded me of the Laurel Ink puzzle I recently made, which also has this same style - a perfect grid, but with pieces offset in both axes and with no obvious pattern. I don't see this variation described in Bob Armstrong's glossary of piece styles. I think it would be fair to call this an American style ribbon cut (or, perhaps, random ribbon cut), in contrast to the English style, probably modeled after the Victory ribbon cut.
Whistler was an American artist who is best known for his portrait of his mother, one of the most famous 19th century American portraits. His work has great texture and often a moody atmosphere. The puzzle seems darker than this photo would suggest.
Completed in 2 hr., 12 mins. with no box reference. 15.8 secs./piece; 227.3 pcs./hr. Difficulty rating: 1.6/10.