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/

 

 

Saffron

When I was a boy, growing up in Torbay in Devonshire, we would occasionally have saffron buns as a treat. As I recall, they were only sold in one bakery and they looked very similar to the ones in the image below. The buns were markedly yellow, but otherwise looked like other fruit buns and we ate them cut in half and spread with butter. I had no idea how saffron was obtained, although I knew it came from crocuses, and I was also aware that the buns were a little more expensive than the more usual varieties: they also had a characteristic taste. There was some mention in conversation that saffron buns were made for celebrations in neighbouring Cornwall, but I had no idea that saffron was used anywhere else in the World, whether in buns or in any other type of cooking. Mine was a parochial life.

Saffron buns, of a characteristic form, are a feature of the Santa Lucia festival in Sweden that is celebrated on 13th December each year [1]. In this tradition, children take part in a procession in their schools, where a girl is dressed as the saint and has lighted candles (or battery-driven equivalents) in a crown on her head. After the singing of traditional Santa Lucia songs, the festival ends with everyone tucking into the buns (lussekatter), although why they should contain saffron is not known, as the history of the tradition is sketchy.

Saffron (the stamens of a crocus, see above) is used in a wide array of dishes, both savoury and sweet, as well as in baking buns, and it was already established as a spice in Old Testament times [2]. In an article in The Guardian, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall gives a description of the origins of saffron (and also how it came to be grown in the part of the country where I was brought up) [3]:

Saffron [the saffron crocus] first grew in western Asia. The Moguls took it from Persia to India, and it has been cultivated in Kashmir since the third century A.D.. By the 10th Century, Arabs were growing it in Spain, where some of the world’s finest saffron is still produced. In the 13th Century, crusaders returned from Asia Minor with crocus corms and began growing it in Italy, France and Germany. The story goes that a pilgrim smuggled a corm back to England in the 14th century.. ..Within a couple of centuries, saffron meadows spread in a precious purple carpet across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, where Market Walden even changed its name to Saffron Walden..

..But in some ways East Anglian “crokers”, as the crocus growers were known, are parvenus. Here in the West Country, we’ve been going for gold a lot longer. We exchanged tin for saffron with Phoenician traders and crocus meadows existed around Bude until the 19th century; West Country cooks turned the magical stamens into sunny loaves and cakes. Historically, we could literally count saffron as a local ingredient; traditionally, we still do.

In the article, Hugh then does on to give recipes for: saffron chicken with rice; saffron honey ice-cream; and Cornish saffron tea bread (just like the buns of my boyhood). The recipe for the latter is adapted from one by Elizabeth David, who recommended eating the bread with a glass of sauternes – something which would not have met with approval in our household.

The process of producing the best Spanish saffron is described in an article in the “i” newspaper of 21st November 2018 (see above). Crocuses are picked by hand, making sure that stems are broken near their base, and the flowers collected into baskets that are taken to be spread out on a long table. Picking is always carried out early in the morning, before the fierce heat of the sun affects the flowers adversely, and the process of plucking out the three stamens is then carried out by hand, to be followed by gentle drying over a fire. The article goes on to say that “The journey from field to jar must be completed within 24 hours to maintain freshness and comply with the EU-backed Denominacion de Origen Protegida (DOP) regulations”. It is no wonder that saffron is so expensive, wherever it is produced, and many substitutes [4] are passed off as the real thing. However, these never have the same density of colour and depth of flavour.

Saffron is not just of value in colouring and flavouring food: like many spices, it also has medicinal properties, including its value as an anti-oxidant [5]. It has also been used traditionally to reduce the effects of urinary tract infections and to ease childbirth [6]. Research on animals points to its value in treating some cardiovascular conditions, depression and macular degeneration, prompting suggestions that its biochemical constituents – crocin and crocetin – should be investigated further in a therapeutic role [6].

This throws up the question: did our ancient forebears first use saffron as a medicine or in colouring and flavouring food? We cannot know the answer and the selection of saffron must have come by trial and error at a time when our (non-human?) ancestors tried eating anything that they found, before settling on those that were edible or had a use. From there, they must have discarded the whole crocus and begun using just the stamens to concentrate the effect of the spice, using drying to produce an even more potent product.

The distribution of the native saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) is very similar to that of Colchicum spp., another crocus-like plant (see above) but from a different botanical family [7]. These also have medicinal properties, as they contain colchicine [8], long known as a treatment for gout and other joint problems. Unfortunately, colchicine has unpleasant side effects when taken in quantity and our ancestors would have developed nausea and gastro-intestinal disorders if they ate a lot of Colchicum plants before discerning their medicinal value.

We’re now moving off topic and into ethnobotany, but it is fascinating to consider how we came to select the wide range of foodstuffs that we enjoy today, especially as we now have a global perspective. It’s all a long way from the saffron buns I enjoyed as a boy in Torbay and I wasn’t sufficiently curious then to find out more. I am now, though.

  

[1] https://sweden.se/culture-traditions/lucia/

[2] Song of Solomon 4:14 in The Holy Bible.

[3]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/26/saffron-recipes-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall

[4] V.Khilare, A.Tiknaik, B.Prakash, B.Ughade, G.Korhale, D.Nalage, N.Ahmed, C.Khedkar and G.Khedkar (2019) Multiple tests on saffron find new adulterant materials and reveal that 1st grade saffron is rare in the market. Food Chemistry 272:635-642.

[5] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41110151

[6] G.K.Broadhead, A.Chang, J.R.Grigg and P.McCluskey (2016) Efficacy and safety of saffron supplementation: current clinical findings. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 56:2767-2776.

[7] C.Brickell (editor-in-chief) (1996) The Royal Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopaedia of Garden Plants. London, Dorling Kindersley.

[8] B.Dasgeb, D.Kornreich, K.McGuinn, L.Okon, I.Brownell and D.L.Sackett (2018) Colchicine: an ancient drug with novel applications. British Journal of Dermatology 178:350-356. et al.

My thanks to those who posted on the “Torbay Undiscovered, Lost, Forgotten, Unloved!” Facebook page in response to my request for details about saffron buns in Torbay.