There is a reason why The Night Watch, which Ravensburger produced in 1977, still appears quite often (usually in used condition), despite the fact that it is more than 40 years old. Other large puzzles of the late 70's and 80's are very rare, like Country Fair, for example, which Ravensburger published just two years later.
Now that I have completed it, I know the reason. It is one of the most difficult jigsaw puzzles out there. I remember when I completed years ago the 6000 pieces Schmidt version of The Allegory of Spring. Back then, I felt it was a real challenge to complete those last thousand pieces, which were mostly dark.
In this case, it was the other way around. After placing one thousand pieces, I had around four thousand pieces left that were mostly dark. This puzzle doesn't compare to any puzzle that I have assembled before. In fact, I have now the feeling that I got my Master's Degree in puzzles. Before The Night Watch, I was just an undergraduate student. Now I truly feel that I can put together ANY jigsaw puzzle.
The Night Watch becomes the "Nightmare".
Soon after you place all the pieces that have distinct fields...
Posts by Jorge Gallego
1000, Clementoni, Moulin Rouge, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
13
May
When I started this puzzle, I knew that there was a missing piece. It should have 999 pieces, but there were only 998 pieces. Some time ago, when this happened, I used to verify the puzzle a second time. My hope was that I had made a mistake, but the second verification gave always the same result. It was a shame, because this puzzle by Clementoni with a poster of the Moulin Rouge by Toulouse-Lautrec was very unusual. However, after buying more than 200 incomplete puzzles, it is not disappointing anymore. It's part of what we do at Rare Puzzles: being sure that we only list the complete ones.
Initially, I was listing the incomplete puzzles in the online store at very low prices. However, when I decided to start the Missing Pieces replacement service, I thought it was better to keep them, put them together, and offer them for replacements. So, I have accepted the idea that I am now a puzzle enthusiast that will only assemble incomplete puzzles.
Moulin Rouge: La Goulue
That is the complete title of this poster by Toulouse-Lautrec. It was a color lithograph from 1891. Although they printed around 3000 copies, most of them were pasted as...
A New Project to Complement Rare Puzzles
10
May
Today, I have started a new project: www.tupuzzle.com.
Since 2015, I have been able to help a lot of puzzle fans and enthusiasts to increase their collections. I purposely avoided the expression "complete their collections" because we all know it is impossible. Hardcore puzzle fans always find new projects. In any case, I didn't leave any stone unturned in order to locate puzzles everywhere. Later, I put them all together in a single place where anyone could get them. Many people found it much easier to buy them at Rare Puzzles instead of spending their time and effort looking for them.
After a long learning experience (and around 200 incomplete puzzles that their owners sold me as complete), Rare Puzzles has started to take form and consolidate, although there are still a lot of features that we need to include. If fact, it is a never ending process, but the site is improving one step at a time. It is interesting to consider how things happen sometimes, even when we had different plans.
Since Rare Puzzles specializes in out of catalog puzzles, I couldn't include in the store current puzzles from different brands that are widely available in stores. If I had done...
Legal Information Added
04
May
The website has been under maintenance for a whole week. I apologize for it. I have been writing all the legal information and i took longer than expected.
There was some mandatory information that Rare Puzzles didn't include, so we were out of compliance. For that reason, I couldn't open it again until all the documentation was ready. Some parts of it were very technical and some other parts were not easy to develop. But the work is done now.
These documents are legal information requirements and will appear from now on at the footer of the site. All users must know and accept them:
Legal Notice.
Terms & Conditions.
Privacy Policy.
Cookies Policy.
And some more news very soon...
1500, Ravensburger, The Four Days’ Battle, Abraham Storck
21
Apr
Naval battle images like The Four Days' Battle make beautiful puzzles. That's why most jigsaw puzzle manufacturers have used these images in their catalogs for decades. Several classic puzzles come to mind, like the extraordinary 6000 pieces version of The Battle of Lepanto, by Andrea Vicentino. However, for some reason naval battles are not popular anymore. As a consequence, all those puzzles are now out of catalog and very difficult to find. In fact, the last time a classic naval battle puzzle puzzle appeared was 1998, when Educa manufactured, again, The Battle of Lepanto, by H. Letter.
Some puzzle fans say that the name naval battle is not the best for this type of puzzles. Instead, the name should be sky and sea puzzles. After all, most of the pieces belong to huge areas of sea and sky, while the ships are often just a small part of the image. While that is true, and sometimes there are large areas of solid tones that are very challenging, the truth is that most of these puzzles are magnificent. The Four Days' Battle, which Ravensburger manufactured in 1974, is a good example. It is, however, unfortunate that we need to go back more...
1000, Flamenco, Landing Place, Jan Brueghel the Elder
17
Mar
The name Brueghel is very popular among puzzle enthusiasts. There are four main painters with this name and they all belong to the same family line: Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Jan Brueghel the Elder, and Jan Brueghel the Younger. Very often, the jigsaw manufacturer just includes the name Brueghel as the artist and nothing else. Then, there is no way to know who the real author of the painting is. In the case of this puzzle, the only information in the box is Brueghel, but we have to complete the research and find out that the real title of the painting is Landing Place, and the artist is Jan Brueghel the Elder.
Other versions of Landing Place
There are two larger versions of this puzzle. MB manufactured a 3000 pieces version in 1981. However, the title in the box is The Cove, which is, in fact, a small sheltered bay, like the one that appears in the painting. I don't know what source did MB use to come up with that title. The fact is that there are virtually no references online to The Cove. Two years after the version by MB, Ravensburger published another 3000 pieces version,...
1000, Selegiochi, Concave and Convex, Maurits Cornelis Escher
23
Feb
Maurits Cornelis Escher is the creator of Concave and Convex, and he is one of the most interesting artists in the 20th century. One may like his paintings or not, but we must all agree that he is unique. In fact, most people are able to identify his work as soon as they see it, even if they don't know the name of the painter. Perhaps they just know he was the Dutch graphic artist that painted impossible stairs, upside down rooms, strange reflections... However, when they see one work, they know it belongs to him.
For that reason, we can say that he is a quite popular artist. The M.C. Escher Foundation organizes exhibitions with his works regularly, and they always attract thousands of visitors. In fact, there was an exhibition in Madrid in 2017 for 8 months that showed around 200 works by Escher. It was one of the most visited in 2017.
Concave and Convex and other dichotomies
Escher got his inspiration partly on Mathematics and Geometry. Symmetry is a constant in the images he invents. For that reason, many of his paintings have a dichotomy in the title, like Concave and Convex in this case. However, we also have...
1500, Falcon, The Fire Brigade Turn Out in Kultorvet, Copenhagen, Paul Gustav Fischer
19
Feb
Paul Gustav Fischer is the author of The Fire Brigade Turn Out in Kultorvet, Copenhagen. It is a very interesting painting depicting a fire brigade at work in the public square of Kultorvet, in the city of Copenhagen.
Kultorvet in the Past
Kultorvet was created after the large Copenhagen fire of 1728, which destroyed a large part of the city. For a very long time, even before the fire, that area of the town was a site for market trade. After that, it continued to be so until the 20th century. Today, it is a beautiful pedestrian area in Copenhagen. In the photograph you can see the square of Kultorvet around the year 1890, which was during the lifetime of Paul Gustav Fischer. In fact, he completed this painting in 1900, so we can say that it looked exactly like that. The main two buildings in the background behind the smoke appear clearly in the photograph.
This was a very nice puzzle, although it was very difficult to assemble. It was not due to the image itself, which includes a lot of variety in details and colors, but for a problem with the jigsaw pieces. For some reason (aging perhaps, since it was...
2000, Fame, The Game of Cards, Raffaello Sorbi
15
Feb
The title of the this painting is The Game of Cards, and the author is the Italian artist Raffaello Sorbi. This is the first puzzle that I completed by the brand Fame. This jigsaw brand is not one of the most popular ones, but they have beautiful puzzles. Although they don't have a very large catalog available, they have been very careful in their choices. For that reason, most of their puzzles are very nice. They even have two large 5000 pieces puzzles that are extremely difficult to find: A Meeting by the Stile, by Heywood Hardy, and An Old Surrey Farm, by Robert Gallon.
Cards and other Games
The Game of Cards is a delightful scene where the painter has been able to capture the fun of the game. The way the four characters in the front are depicted is especially interesting. The man sitting at the table seems to be trying to understand, scratching his forehead. In the meantime, the woman sitting in front of him is explaining the reason why he probably lost. Everybody seems to be having a fun time. It is, in summary, a beautiful genre scene. Raffaello Sorbi completed, in fact, a whole series of paintings...
1000, Educa, The Prophet Daniel, Michelangelo
07
Feb
Educa has a very long tradition of great choices for their jigsaw puzzles, particularly in terms of fine arts puzzles. This 1000 pieces version of The Prophet Daniel, by Michelangelo, is a good example. They manufactured it in the early 80's. The box corresponds to the design of their earlier puzzles, long before they started to publish them in the beautiful boxes with stripes, or the elegant white box design of the 90's.
The Prophet Daniel without the Lions
This fresco painting is part of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo painted a total of 7 prophets from the Old Testament. It was common to represent the figures of the Bible with the attributes that might help people identify them. In the case of the Prophet Daniel, the most important event in the tradition was the fact that they threw him into the den of the lions as a punishment, but an angel saved him. However, in Michelangelo's portrayal, there is no reference to the lions, which is very interesting. Instead, Michelangelo shows Daniel reading a great book, which is held up by a muscular figure from beneath it.
It is interesting to note that the image of this puzzle corresponds to...
February 4th 2018: International World Cancer Day
04
Feb
February 4th is the international World Cancer Day, founded by the Union for the International Cancer Control. It tries to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. However, the primary goal of the World Cancer Day is to reduce illness and death caused by cancer.
If you are reading this post, chances are that cancer has touched your life or it will do it in the future. I learned it myself not long ago. I also learned to separate things that are important from things that are not. Cancer brings a lot of perspective and it helps to set priorities.
Donations on World Cancer Day
Today I have donated all the sales commissions collected during 2017 to the Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer. They do a great job here in Spain. The Association provides information, supports research, organizes campaigns and runs programs to support families. They even have a 24/7 toll free number to provide help to patients, caregivers and relatives. However, their help comes often in a very humble form. Perhaps a volunteer listening to you in the waiting room of a hospital.
There are similar associations in most countries. The American Cancer Society is one of the most...
2000, Jumbo, In the Library, Johann Hamza
27
Jan
Johann Hamza was a painter of genre who was born in Kostelní Myslová, Czech Republic, on 21 June 1848 (although most online references indicate wrongly that he was born in Teltsch on 21 June 1850). He studied under Eduard Von Engerth at the Vienna Academy, and exhibited in Vienna, Dresden and Munich between 1879 and 1890. He died in 1927.
We don't have a lot of information about him, except that he specialized in genre painting. He liked to depict everyday life by portraying ordinary people in common activities. At a very early age he was already a consummate craftsman who conceived his pictures with a lot of detail. He was very precise depicting the surfaces of all the materials, objects, and figures. This painting is a good example.
Johann Hamza in his Library
Jorge Luis Borges always imagined Paradise as some kind of library. It seems that perhaps Johann Hamza could agree with him, since libraries and books are common topics in his paintings. There are at least five works with the title In the Library, where different gentlemen are sitting reading in a library or a room full of books. Furthermore, some other works represent people reading, like An Old Man...
1500, Jumbo, Trial of William Wallace, Daniel Maclise
24
Oct
Most of us are probably familiar with the 1995 epic movie Braveheart, with Mel Gibson. That movie is probably what first comes mind when we mention the name of William Wallace. He was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the wars of Scottish independence from England at the end of the 13th century and beginning of the 14th.
William Wallace won the important Battle of Stirling Bridge against the English army on September 11, 1297. After that, he became Guardian of Scotland until his defeat at the Battle of Farkilk in 1298. Some years later, in 1305, they captured and executed him.
The painting by Daniel Maclise represents the trial, which took place on August 23, 1305. Although the title in the box is Trial of William Wallace, the true title of the painting is Wallace's Trial in Westminster Hall. They charged him with high treason and crimes against English civilians.
The execution of William Wallace
As soon as the scene in the painting concluded, they hanged him. However, they released him while he was still alive. Then, they emasculated him, eviscerated him, and burned his bowels before him. Finally, they beheaded him and cut him into four parts. They...
Should I Buy Insurance when Shipping my Puzzles?
01
Sep
When you buy a very rare puzzle on the site, perhaps a puzzle that you have been searching for years, you want to be sure that it arrives at its destination in the same condition it left Rare Puzzles. Some visitors or new customers encourage me to pack their puzzles carefully. After that, they have to decide whether they want shipping insurance or not.
We all have received very poorly packed shipments when buying on other online stores or on eBay. Are you familiar with these?
Puzzle boxes just wrapped with a couple of thin pages from a newspaper.
Wrapping paper that has been taped onto the original puzzle box and then it's impossible to remove.
Loose puzzles within too large cardboard boxes. The puzzle opens inside because they didn't even tape it closed and the pieces are loose all over the place.
However, if you have ever bought one of my puzzles, then you know you don't need to worry about packaging. Why? Because they will very likely be the best packages that you will receive. This is what a typical box will look like.
Two layers of palletizing plastic protect each puzzle, even puzzles that are brand new and also keep the...
1500, F.X. Schmid, Tribute to Nelson, William E. D. Stuart
23
Jul
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...
Puzzle Auctions. How much is a puzzle worth?
19
Jul
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...
1500, Schmidt, Bouquet, Jan Brueghel the Elder
02
Jul
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.
Sometimes People Lie
30
Jun
I recently wrote a post saying that most people are honest. At least, I have come to that conclusion after having completed a lot of transactions with a lot of people everywhere.
I have had my share of disappointments when buying puzzles, but even in those cases I try not to presume bad intentions.
However, not long ago I had a negative experience on eBay UK and I am convinced that the seller was dishonest.
Judge by yourselves.
I bought the 5000, Falcon, Celebration on the Occasion of the Anniversary of the Military Order of Maria Theresa 1861. The puzzle was described as 100% complete.
The puzzle was sent to my friend in the UK and later shipped to me three months after I bought it. When I verified the puzzle there were 8 missing pieces. I contacted the seller through eBay.
After a week, no answer.
I opened a dispute through PayPal, my first PayPal dispute, asking how he knew that the puzzle was 100% complete, as he had stated in the description. He said that the puzzle was complete and his wife had verified the puzzle two times. He was familiar with Rare Puzzles an he assumed that I had resold the puzzle because it appeared...
1500, MB, Suburbs of a Paranoiac Critical Town, Salvador Dalí
28
Jun
The complete title of this painting is Suburbs of a Paranoiac-Critical Town: Afternoon on the Outskirts of European History, and the artist is the Spanish painter Salvador Dalí. Although Dalí has very strong supporters, he is not one of my favorite painters, and I don't like this particular work very much. I think I bought the puzzle because it was rare and it was a way to add variety to my collection.
The puzzle was manufactured by MB. The image in the jigsaw puzzle represents only a part of the original. Surrealism is difficult to understand, and it is even difficult to relate the content of the painting and the title. Perhaps they thought it wouldn't make much difference to crop the image and leave out what I think it's a significant part of the content.
The puzzle was very easy to assemble. It was completed during the summer of 2014. Once piece was missing and the puzzle is now offered for replacements at the Missing Pieces section.
1500, MB, Suburbs of a Paranoiac-Critical Town: Afternoon on the Outskirts of European History, Salvador Dalí, 79 x 60 cm, Reference Number 3753.23.