1500, Art, F.X. Schmid

1500, F.X. Schmid, Tribute to Nelson, William E. D. Stuart

The title of this naval battle is Tribute to Nelson, by the British artist William E.D. Stuart. He flourished as a painter in the mid-19th century, but there is not much information available about this painter or his works. That is surprising, since he has left some exceptional paintings, like this one. We are assuming it refers to British Admiral Horatio Nelson, but there is no reference to any particular battle or war event. Based on the information on the box, the reproduction for the manufacturer F.X. Schmid was a courtesy of the Rehs Galleries Inc. in New York, USA. After having searched the inventory, I haven’t found this painting, and it is very likely that it went to some private collector. I completed the puzzle in the summer of 2014. These naval battle puzzles are challenging when they are larger, but in this case it was doable, because there are many different fields of color. It has a lot of detail and variation in shades. Most naval battles have a lot of sea and sky pieces, and they are difficult, but in this painting the scene is full and there are plenty of references, so the puzzle is easy. Tribute to Nelson and...

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Puzzle Auctions. How much is a puzzle worth?

Many out of catalog puzzles are true collector's items. Puzzle fans search for them and try to buy them in auctions websites. When the puzzle is really rare, the auctions final prices can reach surprising limits, since very motivated sellers keep bidding against each other. How much is a puzzle worth? It all depends on the buyer's motivation. Sometimes a person has been looking for a puzzle for a long time, perhaps years. For that reason, she will be willing to do anything possible to get it. After all, there is no way to know when it will appear again. Some amazing auctions Cartoon puzzles sell consistently at higher prices than art puzzles. Some of the large Heye puzzles have recently passed the 1,000 USD selling price, which is a surprising benchmark. In 2016, the 8000, Heye, New York, Factory Sealed was sold on eBay for 3,050 US dollars. That's 0.381 USD per piece. Until July 16, 2017, that was the highest selling price I had seen for a jigsaw puzzle. The 2000, Central Hobby, Villefranche, Teppei Sasakura, Factory Sealed reached 100,000 Japanese yens, or 893 US dollars. That's 0.446 USD per piece. Teppei Sasakura is truly a very interesting artist and illustrator, and the puzzle is beautiful. So, how...

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1500, Art, Schmidt

1500, Schmidt, Bouquet, Jan Brueghel the Elder

This Bouquet was painted by Jan Brueghel the Elder in 1603. This painter was the son of Pieter Brueghel the Elder and brother of Pieter Brueghel the Younger. At the same time, he was the father of Jan Brueghel the Younger. There are many jigsaw puzzles in the market by all the different members of this family of artists, and I had several of them in my collection. The original painting can be seen at the Alte Pinakothek, in Munich, Germany. Not being a big fan of paintings with still lifes and flowers, I have completed two jigsaw puzzles with that topic. This one had its own challenges due to the large number of dark pieces. I bought it second hand, I don’t remember when or where, and in the end there were two missing pieces and one seriously damaged, which I ended up discarding. The puzzle is now available for replacements in the Missing Pieces section. 1500, Schmidt, Bouquet, Jan Brueghel the Elder, 57 x 84.4 cm, Reference Number 625.2636.

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