One of several prints of A. Lassell Riply paintings which my former employer, The Paul Revere Life Insurance Co., commissioned to celebrate the life and times of patriot Paul Revere. We asked Pagey Elliott to cut this one into a puzzle for us in 1993. Plywood, interlocking, cut partially along color lines with 34 figure pieces. Ms. Elliott is simply the finest designer and cutter of animal figure pieces in the world probably because she has studied, drawn and written books about the gaits of horses and dogs. The puzzle is displayed with the figure pieces removed to the side, a practice I don't normally do but am making an exception here because of their superior quality. Please note in the lower center the figure of a dog "howling over his fallen master", perhaps the finest example of an appropriate figure piece. That is Ms. Elliott's genius.
One would think that an aging puzzle cutter would continute to cut pretty much as they did in their earlier years. Guess again! Here, Pagey Elliott, Carlisle, MA has employed extensively the little used special technique of cutting irregular edges with cloud protrusions. Any assembler who starts with lining up the edge pieces is in for a long struggle! Cut in 2001, plywood, interlocking, some color line cutting with 8 appropriate figure pieces. Artist: P. Brent.
Again, because of the maker Pagey Elliott's top quality figure pieces, puzzle is displayed with them set aside. Note how every figure is appropriate for the scene and location, i.e., birds fly in the sky, dogs run along the ground with the dogs in the picture, the "fox" appears to be running away in the lower left corner, a deer is escaping in the woods. Plywood, interlocking, cut partially along color lines with 11 figure pieces. Artist is J.S.Sanderson Wells.
Figure pieces (puzzle pieces designed and cut to look like recognizable objects) have been cut into puzzles since the turn of the century, to the delight of most assemblers. Pagey Elliott of Carlisle, MA (Pagemark Puzzles) has studied the gaits of dogs and horses and, in our opinion, makes the most natural looking animal figurals reflecting mood evoked by the puzzle picture. Included here is figural of dog pulling its own baggage pole train, helping its family move through the snowy northern woods. Scalloped edges and subtle colors of snow enhance challenge of assembly. Artist is Robert Duncan (1986).
