DSC00875 BCD Alton Larger Holtzapffel Figure-It-Out Bluebird adj
The famous Holtzapffel Bluebird, a large 200pc version in progress at the BCD meeting, but I didn't see it finished.
Holtzapffel's pre-1922 catalogue lists two versions of the Blue Bird - 75pc 2s, 2d postage and 200pc 5s, 4d postage. The 1923 catalogue only shows the 75pc jigsaw now at 3s 6d, postage 4d. Both lists state that many hundreds of these jigsaws had been cut.
Jigasaurus has examples of both 75pc and 200pc, plus a 150pc one cut by neighbouring maker ZigZag, which retailed at 7s 6d.
www.thejigasaurus.com/jigasaurus/v/holtzapffel/figure_it_...
www.thejigasaurus.com/jigasaurus/v/holtzapffel/figure_it_...
www.thejigasaurus.com/jigasaurus/v/zig_zag/figure_zig_zag...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebird_of_happiness
According to Wikipedia, the symbol of a bluebird as the harbinger of happiness is found in many cultures (Chinese, Native American and European folklore) and may date back thousands of years.
In L'Oiseau Bleu ("The Blue Bird") a popular tale included by Madame d'Aulnoy (1650–1705) in her collection Tales of the Fairies, King Charming is transformed into a blue bird, who aids his lover, the princess Fiordelisa, in her trials.
A "blue bird of happiness" features in ancient Lorraine folklore. In 1886 Catulle Mendès published Les oiseaux bleus ("the blue birds"), a story bundle inspired by these traditional tales. In 1892 Marcel Schwob, at the time secretary to Mendès, published the collection Le roi au masque d'or, which included the story "Le pays bleu", dedicated to his friend Oscar Wilde. Maurice Maeterlinck had entered Mendès literary circle as well and in 1908 he published a symbolist stage play named The Blue Bird inspired by the same material. (Two children, Tyltyl and Mytyl, are sent out by the fairy Bérylune (Jessie Ralph) to search for the Bluebird of Happiness. Returning home empty-handed, the children see that the bird has been in a cage in their house all along and create great happiness for another by giving their pet bird to the sick neighbor child.) Translated into English by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, it played on Broadway from 1910.
In the programme for the (revival of the) play at London's Haymarket Theatre in 1912, the programme explained: "The Blue Bird, inhabitant of the pays bleu, the fabulous blue country of our dreams, is an ancient symbol in the folk-lore of Lorraine, and stands for happiness." The play was quickly adapted into a children's novel, an opera, and at least seven films between 1910 and 2002. Many Holtzapffel Figure-it-out jigsaws are known to be cut from remaindered play posters from the London West End in the period 1910s and 1920s and this may be yet another example.
DSC00875 BCD Alton Larger Holtzapffel Figure-It-Out Bluebird adj
The famous Holtzapffel Bluebird, a large 200pc version in progress at the BCD meeting, but I didn't see it finished.
Holtzapffel's pre-1922 catalogue lists two versions of the Blue Bird - 75pc 2s, 2d postage and 200pc 5s, 4d postage. The 1923 catalogue only shows the 75pc jigsaw now at 3s 6d, postage 4d. Both lists state that many hundreds of these jigsaws had been cut.
Jigasaurus has examples of both 75pc and 200pc, plus a 150pc one cut by neighbouring maker ZigZag, which retailed at 7s 6d.
www.thejigasaurus.com/jigasaurus/v/holtzapffel/figure_it_...
www.thejigasaurus.com/jigasaurus/v/holtzapffel/figure_it_...
www.thejigasaurus.com/jigasaurus/v/zig_zag/figure_zig_zag...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebird_of_happiness
According to Wikipedia, the symbol of a bluebird as the harbinger of happiness is found in many cultures (Chinese, Native American and European folklore) and may date back thousands of years.
In L'Oiseau Bleu ("The Blue Bird") a popular tale included by Madame d'Aulnoy (1650–1705) in her collection Tales of the Fairies, King Charming is transformed into a blue bird, who aids his lover, the princess Fiordelisa, in her trials.
A "blue bird of happiness" features in ancient Lorraine folklore. In 1886 Catulle Mendès published Les oiseaux bleus ("the blue birds"), a story bundle inspired by these traditional tales. In 1892 Marcel Schwob, at the time secretary to Mendès, published the collection Le roi au masque d'or, which included the story "Le pays bleu", dedicated to his friend Oscar Wilde. Maurice Maeterlinck had entered Mendès literary circle as well and in 1908 he published a symbolist stage play named The Blue Bird inspired by the same material. (Two children, Tyltyl and Mytyl, are sent out by the fairy Bérylune (Jessie Ralph) to search for the Bluebird of Happiness. Returning home empty-handed, the children see that the bird has been in a cage in their house all along and create great happiness for another by giving their pet bird to the sick neighbor child.) Translated into English by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, it played on Broadway from 1910.
In the programme for the (revival of the) play at London's Haymarket Theatre in 1912, the programme explained: "The Blue Bird, inhabitant of the pays bleu, the fabulous blue country of our dreams, is an ancient symbol in the folk-lore of Lorraine, and stands for happiness." The play was quickly adapted into a children's novel, an opera, and at least seven films between 1910 and 2002. Many Holtzapffel Figure-it-out jigsaws are known to be cut from remaindered play posters from the London West End in the period 1910s and 1920s and this may be yet another example.