Chad Valley Puzzles

Chad Valley

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ESCAPE FROM FRAMES

According to British Jigsaw Puzzles of the 20th Century, by Tom Tyler, Chad Valley was founded in the early 19th century. The company produced fine handcut wooden puzzles in the 1920's and 1930's. Some of their most sought after puzzles are those produced for the Great Western Railway (GWR), Cunard White Star, The British India Steamship Co., and Dunlop.
Según Tom Tyler, en su libro "Jigsaw puzzles británicos del siglo XX ", Chad Valley (Valle de Chad) se fundó temprano en el siglo XIX. La compañía producieron puzzles excelentes de madera en los años 1920-1939. Algunos de sus puzzles mas populares habieron ellos producido por el Ferrocarril Gran del Oeste, por Dunlop, y por las compañías navieras Cunard Estrella Blanca y Buque de Vapor de India Británico.

Spanish translations are in magenta letters.

Wooden Puzzles
Puzzles de madera

"Great Western Railway", one of the many puzzles of this great series. "Ferrocarril Grande del Oeste" uno de los puzzles de esta serie maravillosa	"Cornish Riviera Express"
"St. David's Cathedral" "Catedral de Santa David"	"Warwick Castle" "Castillo de Warwick"
"The Cathedral", CHAD VALLEY, Great Western Railway [Exeter Cathedral?]	"Great Western Railway map", [Side Two of the "The Cathedral"] See SALE Page 3 for this puzzle, currently for sale.
"St. Julien"	"The Romans at Caerleon"
" Treasure Island ", 400 pieces.	[unknown title], CHAD VALLEY, 70 plywood pieces. [Anyone know the title?]

from the Q&A page:[1064]from "VW"-17 August 2003:
Hi there
I have the following Chad Valley jigsaw puzzle and wondered if anyone knew what sort of age it was or anything about it.
Thanks

"VW"
[unknown title], CHAD VALLEY, 70 plywood pieces.
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from Jim McW--27 August 2003:
Does anyone know the title or the artist?
I would guess that it was issued in the 1930's. It seems to depict breakfast before a hunt. One gentleman is consulting what appears to be a wall barometer, while two others are apparently assessing the weather.
Thanks, Jim McW
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from Keith--31 August 2003:
Hi Jim,
I have a couple of Chad Valley catalogues for 1935 and 1936 but have had no success in pinning this one down. Your estimate of 1930's is about right, the puzzle is quite small, 70 pieces was at the bottom end of the production and would have cost about 1/- to 1/6 these were often only listed as a series and not featured as individual puzzles with pictures in the catalogues. So it is not surprising. The picture I am sure is a well known work of art that has probably been used by several jigsaw manufacturers so the title may well be discovered.
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from "J11"-11 January 2004:
hello all
not sure if anyone can help, but I have owned for some time a very old puzzle that was invented and designed by Mrs Elspeth Eagle-Clarke for Chad Valley depicting animals, birds, dragons, mermaids, ships and witches. It's very unusual in the fact it doesn't make up a complete picture as in regular puzzles, but more like individual very colourful characters united in one rectangle.
I have always thought maybe this was a prototype of an early 'jigsaw'. If any one could give me any information as to what it is or it's history I would very much appreciate it.
Regards
"J11"
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from Keith--20 January 2004:
Hi Jim
This is a very interesting find, ( try and get a picture) I feel sure that J11 is describing "Dragonland" a very desirable and scarce puzzle from the 1930's.
Chad Valley in their Catalogue listed it as " Puzzle for the Connoisseur " its Cat. No. is 3036 and was described thus:-
As some rare specimen is to the collector so is this puzzle to the jig-saw enthusiast - a puzzle of such unusual character that we, with our years of experience have seen nothing to equal it.
And how shall it be described ? Imagine Puck summoning all the Elfin creatures, the birds, the beasts and even Man, and arranging them in one glorious symphony of colour for the dedication of his queen, Titania.
This fantasy reproduced in glowing hues by a gifted artist, has been cunningly cut from wood by skilled workers. Every, elf, swan, mermaid and fish, is a picture in itself, colourful and complete, yet each dovetailing together into the brilliant design we illustrate.
" Every piece a picture " ( Supplied to Her Majesty the Queen)
No. 3036 DRAGONSLAND 10/6 No. 3035 ELFIN 7/6
Patent No. 407185
( Doesn't that description make you want to go out and hunt this one down). This was the height of Chad Valley craftsmanship unlike the inflated GWR puzzles which are frankly over-rated and usually of indifferent quality.
Regards,
Keith
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from "ROC"--10 January 2007:
Dear Puzzler
I have just discovered your web site, I was interested in the comments by Keith, 2004. as I was given a Dragon Land puzzle as a child 65 to 70 years ago. It is missing the box , but the trays and lid still survive and the puzzle is still fascinating to all the children who come into my home. If you are interested, I have attached photos of the puzzle and the lid illustration. Two small pieces are missing . I must try to replace them. Cherio.
"ROC"
" Dragon's Land ",
box lid illustration, " Dragon's Land ".
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from Jim McW--12 January 2007:
We are very grateful for your sharing this treasure with us. Keith says this is a quite scarce puzzle. This is the first time we have had the chance to see a picture of it.
Thanks, Jim McW
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from Jim McW--12 April 2008:
Someone has very kindly sent us pictures of another, similar version of this amazing puzzle:
" Dragon's Land ",
" Dragon's Land ",
" Dragon's Land ",
Thanks, Jim McW
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Cardboard Jigsaw Puzzles
*According to British Jigsaw Puzzles of the 20th Century, by Tom Tyler, card (cardboard) puzzles "have appeared under the Chad Valley name since 1989."*
"Hedgerow Flowers" "Flores de seto"

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