BY NICHOLAS ENGERT
It is at once nonsensical but utterly pleasurable. And it is this pastime which has stolen my leisure, not to mention my writing time, during the past two months. I of course blame my younger son who, inventively, gave us a rather charming jigsaw for Christmas. It is not as if we do not have a cupboard full of the darn things but one more is always welcome.
The weather being so miserable during the winter months I decided to set to and enjoy my Christmas present. Each evening I would manage a further 10 to 20 pieces before my eyes glazed over by the “nubbins” and the “outies” – the protrusions or indentations on the pieces that enable them to interlock – of so many inscrutable pieces. At this stage it is best to stop and start again with refreshed eyes.
It all started in 1760.
A London cartographer, John Spilsbury, created the first jigsaw puzzle as a teaching aid to geography. They were created by gluing maps to wood and then cutting along the country borders with a fret saw to create “dissected maps”.
The term jigsaw puzzle started to appear in the late 19th century. Originally jigsaws were made using mahogany as the base onto which the picture was glued but by the 1940s with plywood in short supply, cardboard started to replace timber.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, jigsaws became immensely popular as a form of adult entertainment and then again during the 2020 pandemic with some 63% of British adults engaging in puzzles. Their popularity continues to this day as they are a screen free form of pleasure which can be shared amongst all ages.
Beyond being a light and engaging form of entertainment, there is something rather perverse about jigsaws. After all, one starts with a perfect picture which is then deliberately cut into small interlocking pieces. Breaking up the picture into a thousand or more pieces creates chaos. From this deliberate chaos we toil for hours to restore order and the complete picture before again, after admiring our handiwork, breaking it up and returning it to chaos.
There are no rules as to how to make a jigsaw. One can start as one pleases; study the image on the box lid and begin as you please. This, however, is not my method. I have to create the overall border first by finding and assembling all of the edge pieces. This gives me the frame into which all other pieces must sit. Once completed, the hard work begins – building the picture.
For those not content with conventional jigsaws, there are the fiendishly difficult puzzles from Wasgij. Here one does not make the image on the box but an image created by, for example, a shift in time such as a class reunion whereby you have to re-imagine the image on the box thirty years later when the same characters return for a reunion. Difficult, but not as exasperating as the even more fiendish type whereby you need to make an image of what the characters on the box are seeing staring out of the scene they are in. Here there are no reference points from which to comprehend what the finished image will reveal.
In a world fractured by social media and the vanities of digital media, jigsaws are the perfect antidote. Concentration is improved, and in the quiet meditative time spent bringing order to a 1000 or more random pieces, time slows down and the tedium of daily life recedes as one becomes totally absorbed in a pleasure from a different age. Once completed, there is a sense of achievement, unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but nevertheless satisfying. And having admired the completed picture, all that remains is to break it up and return it to chaos and the cupboard from whence it came.
Nicholas Engert is the founder and creative director of Nicholas Engert Interiors, a studio known for its timeless, elegant and understated design philosophy. With decades of experience in interior architecture and design, Nicholas brings a refined eye and a wealth of knowledge to every project, blending form, function and character with a deep understanding of client needs. Every product featured in the studio’s collection is personally selected to meet exacting standards of quality, design, and aesthetic integrity.
This article first appeared on Nicholas Engert’s Substack