Chad Valley Dragon's Lands adj DSC07093
One BCD member brought along a famous, rare and highly sought after jigsaw from the 1930s, designed by illustrator Mrs Elspeth Eagle-Clarke for Chad Valley, and produced only their most skilled cutters. This copy is perfect - no warping or damaged pieces and my photo does not do it justice. There are only a few pieces, each one is a complete line-cut figure which fit together to form this rectangle. This could be described as a 'cluster puzzle'. Apparently some examples exist where the largest figures are further dissected.
It was supplied in a box with nested trays, to lay the flat pieces in. There were other companion puzzles - Elfin, shown in the small photos, which is less common than Dragon's Land. (We have a photo of this in the pool - see comments below.) BCD expert Tom Tyler said that two other designs were produced - Peter Pan and Robin Hood, but he has never seen either, supposing that the novelty of the concept had worn off by the time they were issued.
You can see more details of a Dragon's Land on Jigasaurus:
www.thejigasaurus.com/jigasaurus/v/chad_valley/dragons_land/
For many more photos (including a Dragon's Land patent drawing) and a long authoratative discussion about the genre of cluster puzzles see David Bailey's World of Escher-like Tessellations, Cluster Puzzles
www.tess-elation.co.uk/cluster-puzzles
This information about the Chad Valley puzzle is from puzzlehistory:
www.puzzlehistory.com/chad.htm
Chad Valley in their Catalogue listed Dragon's Land as " Puzzle for the Connoisseur " its Cat. No. is 3036 and was described thus:-
"As some rare specimen is to the collector so is this puzzle to the jig-saw enthusiast - a puzzle of such unusual character that we, with our years of experience have seen nothing to equal it.
And how shall it be described ? Imagine Puck summoning all the Elfin creatures, the birds, the beasts and even Man, and arranging them in one glorious symphony of colour for the dedication of his queen, Titania.
This fantasy reproduced in glowing hues by a gifted artist, has been cunningly cut from wood by skilled workers. Every, elf, swan, mermaid and fish, is a picture in itself, colourful and complete, yet each dovetailing together into the brilliant design we illustrate.
" Every piece a picture " ( Supplied to Her Majesty the Queen)
No. 3036 DRAGONSLAND 10/6 No. 3035 ELFIN 7/6
Patent No. 407185 "
Chad Valley Dragon's Lands adj DSC07093
One BCD member brought along a famous, rare and highly sought after jigsaw from the 1930s, designed by illustrator Mrs Elspeth Eagle-Clarke for Chad Valley, and produced only their most skilled cutters. This copy is perfect - no warping or damaged pieces and my photo does not do it justice. There are only a few pieces, each one is a complete line-cut figure which fit together to form this rectangle. This could be described as a 'cluster puzzle'. Apparently some examples exist where the largest figures are further dissected.
It was supplied in a box with nested trays, to lay the flat pieces in. There were other companion puzzles - Elfin, shown in the small photos, which is less common than Dragon's Land. (We have a photo of this in the pool - see comments below.) BCD expert Tom Tyler said that two other designs were produced - Peter Pan and Robin Hood, but he has never seen either, supposing that the novelty of the concept had worn off by the time they were issued.
You can see more details of a Dragon's Land on Jigasaurus:
www.thejigasaurus.com/jigasaurus/v/chad_valley/dragons_land/
For many more photos (including a Dragon's Land patent drawing) and a long authoratative discussion about the genre of cluster puzzles see David Bailey's World of Escher-like Tessellations, Cluster Puzzles
www.tess-elation.co.uk/cluster-puzzles
This information about the Chad Valley puzzle is from puzzlehistory:
www.puzzlehistory.com/chad.htm
Chad Valley in their Catalogue listed Dragon's Land as " Puzzle for the Connoisseur " its Cat. No. is 3036 and was described thus:-
"As some rare specimen is to the collector so is this puzzle to the jig-saw enthusiast - a puzzle of such unusual character that we, with our years of experience have seen nothing to equal it.
And how shall it be described ? Imagine Puck summoning all the Elfin creatures, the birds, the beasts and even Man, and arranging them in one glorious symphony of colour for the dedication of his queen, Titania.
This fantasy reproduced in glowing hues by a gifted artist, has been cunningly cut from wood by skilled workers. Every, elf, swan, mermaid and fish, is a picture in itself, colourful and complete, yet each dovetailing together into the brilliant design we illustrate.
" Every piece a picture " ( Supplied to Her Majesty the Queen)
No. 3036 DRAGONSLAND 10/6 No. 3035 ELFIN 7/6
Patent No. 407185 "