Jigsaws - and art appreciation

It is (Inter)National Jigsaw Day on 3rd November [1] and a time to celebrate these wonderful puzzles.

The first jigsaw (more correctly, a dissected puzzle) was created in 1762 by the map engraver John Spilsbury, who attached one of his maps to a sheet of wood and then cut around various countries (see above). The resultant pieces could be put together to form the map by local schoolchildren and this aid to teaching geography was a big hit, and one that was much copied [2]. When the treadle-driven jig saw was invented in the 1880s (1850s according to [1]), there was a much easier method for producing puzzles for both children and adults, and they have remained popular ever since. In addition to the invention of the treadle saw, mass production has been aided by the development of lithographic printing and by the development of plywood [2], and, during the Depression of 1933 in the USA, millions of puzzles were produced [1], providing almost a never-ending supply that could be rented cheaply from local outlets. We still have wooden jigsaw puzzles, but most pictures are now backed by cardboard and come in a variety of cut-out shapes, from squares to intricate interlocking forms.

As a young child, I always enjoyed jigsaw puzzles although, regretfully, I can only recall one of the subjects – Anne Hathaway’s Cottage - and they usually involved houses, country scenes, and the occasional railway engine (much to my delight). I have no idea where our family obtained all the puzzles, but some of them were bought new and given to us as birthday, or Christmas, presents, and others must have been given to us by family members and friends (although that is guesswork). The puzzles were especially important on those few occasions when I was not able to attend Oldway Primary School because of illness and, in winter, I would then sit in the dining room next to the coal fire (our sole method of heating) and complete a jigsaw or two in the large tea tray that seemed to be reserved for this purpose. Occasionally, I was able to listen to the radio (that we called “the wireless”) at the same time, and this was before we had a television, so I was not distracted.

I retained my love of jigsaws as I grew up, and regularly received a “1000-Piece Puzzle” as a Christmas present. The procedure for completing them was the same as I had always used. Firstly, all the pieces were turned out into the box, keeping the upper lid, with the illustration of the completed puzzle, on one side (see above – one of these jigsaws is mine; one not…). Then came the laborious process of turning each piece right-side-up and placing it on a table (instead of the tea tray), moving all edge pieces to one side. Having completed the border, a decision was then made on which sections were to be filled in first and this proceeded until the jigsaw was complete, and the more pieces that had been put in situ, the easier it became. Each completed puzzle was then broken apart and returned to the box.

We now have electronic jigsaw puzzles [3] and these make everything easier, as all the pieces are right-side-up and they are even orientated correctly. When each is placed correctly, the computer gives a reassuring click and, of course, there are no missing pieces, so searching over and over for one that is missing (as can happen with physical jigsaws) is a thing of the past.The number of puzzles available on databases is huge and I have been selecting those showing paintings by various artists. It was a surprise to find that this aided my appreciation of the works, as I built up the image in the piecemeal fashion of jigsaw puzzling without looking at the whole, other than in the original thumbnail that I used for the initial selection. 

It is a quite different approach to the way we view paintings in a gallery, where we first see the whole and then look at details. Using the “jigsaw approach”, I have learned more about the power of perspective, as some foreground sections involve many pieces, while there is much detail on single pieces of the scene in the distance. I know about perspective, of course, but jigsaw construction certainly emphasises its importance. More of a surprise is the use of colour and, when working on an image of an Impressionist, or Post-Impressionist, painting, for example, one sees how colour is used in surprising ways. It fascinates me and adds to the enjoyment of puzzle solving – so much so that I can spend hours on the computer, just as younger people do with games and other forms of entertainment. It certainly shows the power of the “educational toy” that Spilsbury invented 260 years ago.

[1] https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/puzzling-history-puzzles

[2] https://www.wentworthpuzzles.com/2019/05/07/history-of-jigsaw-puzzles

[3] https://www.jigsawplanet.com/