Original ebonized fruit-wood stand, original stained wooden box (210 x 170 x 125 mm), ‘rustic’ carving to surface imitating old wood; hand-coloured illustrated title label on lid, lithographic instructions mounted inside lid; some old worming and discolouration to label The illustration of the lid shows how this educational toy could be applied: a private tutor with a large-size globe on the table - an audience of two children in front of him - points out a region of the earth as the puzzle stones are strewn on the table cloth. The instructions are on how to build the globe layer-by-layer from the Antarctic to the North Pole. ‘When you put together the pieces, one above the other, with a little exactitude you will see the most perfect design of a terrestrial globe.’ Two dimensional geographical puzzles where produced since the early days of puzzles, after the invention of the jigsaw puzzle by John Spilsbury in the 1760’s. Three dimensional puzzles, however, are rather uncommon. The box is 21 cm x 12.5 cm x 17 cm or about 8 1/4" x 5" x 6 5/8", the globe is 13 cm or 5" in diameter. To buy please Click here |