Two Boxes of Pimpernel Piece Puzzles DSC05502
A recent ebay purchase from a seller offering four smallish jigsaws by this rare maker Pimpernel Piece Puzzle. There is no entry for Pimpernel in either Tom Tyler's book or on Jigasaurus. Apart from these four jigsaws I only know of one other jigsaw by Pimpernel - a larger whimsy cut jigsaw of Turner's Fighting Temeraire in my collection.
These are the box lids from 150pc The Butterfly & 269pc Naval Manoeuvres.
On the bases the writing 'Muriel Osborn' matches the writing on the front of all the boxes. Both boxes have a matching '2'. The note on Butterfly about a missing piece looks more likely to be from an owner than from a cutter. The handwriting on the back of Naval Manoeuvres says 'Puzzle done Robt / Capt ? surname, (a time) in 2 ?, (a date) 6-4-15'. The solid pieces would add credibility to an early date.
The front of Naval Manoeuvres has faintly 'With Love from J Curtis??' I wonder if there was a sailor in the story and the first owner or cutter like Fry's chocolate? The image shows a sailor outwitting a red-coated soldier in passing a chocolate bar to his quarry.
All five known jigsaws come in a compact red cardboard box and have the same handwritten text. All those which have photos of the pieces appear to be solid mahogany. This jigsaw Butterfly has the following handwritten text on its lid:
'The Pimpernel Piece Puzzle. From the painting by Hal Hurst RA in the Osborn collection. "Muriel, daughter of George Osborn Rector of Campton in Bedfordshire, as The Butterfly in which costume she attended the Court Fancy Dress Ball" (date obliterated - 150 pieces.'
So we have a connection between the image and first owner or the cutter. An internet search revealed the village of Campton in Bedfordshire. A Wikipedia article linked to an article about the church, All Saints Campton cum Shefford, which included a photo of a framed listing of the church's incumbents. The Rector between 1727-1790 was Thomas Osborn, but the box refers to the Rector 1870-1911, George Montague Osborn, father of Muriel.
I was able to locate Muriel's father on Ancestry and identified her father (born in Salzburg in 1843), her mother Charlotte Jane nee Kenyon, and her dates and married name - 17.3.1881 - 19.10.1936 - her husband Walter Key Parbury. Muriel and her parents were buried in All Saints churchyard. (All of his relies on internet material and proper genealogical research would be necessary to verify this.)
www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/164434129:60526
There is even a photograph of her and links to ones of her parents and husband on the page below:
www.findagrave.com/memorial/198432494/muriel-parbury
"She married as his 3rd wife, Dr Walter Key Parbury at Campton Church, 20 Aiugust 1932. She was given away by her cousin, Sir Algernon Osborn, 7th Baronet of Chicksands Priory. She died at her home, The Firs, Ampthill, and was buried at Campton."
In the church at Campton there are seven plaques and windows dedicated to members of the Osborn family of Chicksands Priory. The church dates back to the 13th Century but has been added to and rebuilt many times over the last eight centuries, including the addition of the Osborn Mausoleum in 1649 and the Osborn Chapel in the same year (which forms the northern part of the church). Several of the Osborn crests and mottoes adorn the church which in Latin is 'Quantum in Rebus Inane,' and translates as 'What vanity in human affairs.' The living had been in the gift of Sir John Osborn from 1685, and his descendants into the 20th century.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_All_Saints,_Campton
You can see photos of the Rectory at Campton below and on this site, both front and rear and references to the Osborn family.
bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/CommunityHistories/Campton/Ca...
The Victoria County History for Bedfordshire shows that the manor house at Campton transferred to the Osborn family along with the manorial rights in 1803. However, deeds in the archive suggest this may have taken place earlier, as some exist which show property in Osborn's hands prior to 1794. You can see photos of the Manor on this page:
bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/CommunityHistories/Campton/Ca...
Two Boxes of Pimpernel Piece Puzzles DSC05502
A recent ebay purchase from a seller offering four smallish jigsaws by this rare maker Pimpernel Piece Puzzle. There is no entry for Pimpernel in either Tom Tyler's book or on Jigasaurus. Apart from these four jigsaws I only know of one other jigsaw by Pimpernel - a larger whimsy cut jigsaw of Turner's Fighting Temeraire in my collection.
These are the box lids from 150pc The Butterfly & 269pc Naval Manoeuvres.
On the bases the writing 'Muriel Osborn' matches the writing on the front of all the boxes. Both boxes have a matching '2'. The note on Butterfly about a missing piece looks more likely to be from an owner than from a cutter. The handwriting on the back of Naval Manoeuvres says 'Puzzle done Robt / Capt ? surname, (a time) in 2 ?, (a date) 6-4-15'. The solid pieces would add credibility to an early date.
The front of Naval Manoeuvres has faintly 'With Love from J Curtis??' I wonder if there was a sailor in the story and the first owner or cutter like Fry's chocolate? The image shows a sailor outwitting a red-coated soldier in passing a chocolate bar to his quarry.
All five known jigsaws come in a compact red cardboard box and have the same handwritten text. All those which have photos of the pieces appear to be solid mahogany. This jigsaw Butterfly has the following handwritten text on its lid:
'The Pimpernel Piece Puzzle. From the painting by Hal Hurst RA in the Osborn collection. "Muriel, daughter of George Osborn Rector of Campton in Bedfordshire, as The Butterfly in which costume she attended the Court Fancy Dress Ball" (date obliterated - 150 pieces.'
So we have a connection between the image and first owner or the cutter. An internet search revealed the village of Campton in Bedfordshire. A Wikipedia article linked to an article about the church, All Saints Campton cum Shefford, which included a photo of a framed listing of the church's incumbents. The Rector between 1727-1790 was Thomas Osborn, but the box refers to the Rector 1870-1911, George Montague Osborn, father of Muriel.
I was able to locate Muriel's father on Ancestry and identified her father (born in Salzburg in 1843), her mother Charlotte Jane nee Kenyon, and her dates and married name - 17.3.1881 - 19.10.1936 - her husband Walter Key Parbury. Muriel and her parents were buried in All Saints churchyard. (All of his relies on internet material and proper genealogical research would be necessary to verify this.)
www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/164434129:60526
There is even a photograph of her and links to ones of her parents and husband on the page below:
www.findagrave.com/memorial/198432494/muriel-parbury
"She married as his 3rd wife, Dr Walter Key Parbury at Campton Church, 20 Aiugust 1932. She was given away by her cousin, Sir Algernon Osborn, 7th Baronet of Chicksands Priory. She died at her home, The Firs, Ampthill, and was buried at Campton."
In the church at Campton there are seven plaques and windows dedicated to members of the Osborn family of Chicksands Priory. The church dates back to the 13th Century but has been added to and rebuilt many times over the last eight centuries, including the addition of the Osborn Mausoleum in 1649 and the Osborn Chapel in the same year (which forms the northern part of the church). Several of the Osborn crests and mottoes adorn the church which in Latin is 'Quantum in Rebus Inane,' and translates as 'What vanity in human affairs.' The living had been in the gift of Sir John Osborn from 1685, and his descendants into the 20th century.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_All_Saints,_Campton
You can see photos of the Rectory at Campton below and on this site, both front and rear and references to the Osborn family.
bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/CommunityHistories/Campton/Ca...
The Victoria County History for Bedfordshire shows that the manor house at Campton transferred to the Osborn family along with the manorial rights in 1803. However, deeds in the archive suggest this may have taken place earlier, as some exist which show property in Osborn's hands prior to 1794. You can see photos of the Manor on this page:
bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/CommunityHistories/Campton/Ca...