NOW SOLD OUT (22 September 2006)
Many of you may be familiar with a charming picture postcard sold at John Taylor Bellfounders Museum Shop. The picture was painted by Frederick Smallfield (1829- 1915) and depicts six old fellas ringing in a rustic ringing room. The copyright is held by the Royal Institution of Cornwall, Truro.
The Wentworth Wooden Jigsaw Company has created a 250 piece jigsaw for those who do the picture first and the edges at the end! It can take less time than a peal to complete, if you want it to that is. The size is 360mm x 250mm (14″ x 10″), so it is unlikely to clutter your dining room table for long, although you might want to frame it when it is finished!
Wentworth has the ‘cutting edge’ in the jigsaw marketplace and uses lasers to cut the intricate shapes. Yes, there are pieces with straight edges inside the puzzle and special ones such as bells, candle, chalice, church, crook, crucifix, door, flag, font, pulpit, window, etc, known as “whimsies”, to add to the fun.
“Whimsies” were so-called because Victorian puzzle cutters included such shapes “on a whim” and Wentworths have revived this tradition.
“The Ringers of Launcells” is a high quality product and offers a pattern of artists’ tools to challenge, intrigue, frustrate and confuse and also makes a splendid gift.