Puzzle box
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A puzzle box (also called a secret, or trick box) is a box which can only be opened by a non-obvious and sometimes complicated series of manipulations. Sometimes, a simple squeeze at the right spot will do the trick. On the other hand, sometimes many movements of small pieces are necessary for the box to open. Hence some puzzle boxes are closely related to burr puzzles.
Jewelry used to be kept in trick boxes so that a potential thief would have problems seeing and stealing the contents. Puzzle boxes have been crafted all over the world, including Morocco, Poland and South America. The Japanese puzzle box is covered in complicated patterns of rich wood inlay called Yosegi and features complex mechanisms to open them. At first glance they appear smooth and without any opening, but by various obvious or hidden panels, may take anywhere from 2 to over 200 movements to open.
American Puzzle boxes have emerged in the 1990's with the creation of the relatively inexpensive Heartwood's brand of boxes, and various other craftsmen. Some key craftsmen of of the American Puzzle Box era are Eric Kelsic, Jonathan McCabe, Randal Gatewood, Kagen Schaefer, Lee krasnow, Makishi, Eric Fuller, Robert Yarger, The Sandfield Brothers, Kathleen Malcolmson, and Perry McDaniel. Unfortunately, Eric Kelsic, and Jonathan McCabe have not produced new boxes in quite a while. Key aspects of the typical American Puzzle box are woods indigenous to the Americas, and in some instances, a smaller sized box in relation to boxes made in Japan and Poland. Some craftsmen are breaking the mold in creating boxes with metal, natural gemstones, and electrical components. Some collectors find this intriguing and imaginative, while other collectors cannot bear the idea of not having a puzzle box solely made from wood.
The Japanese puzzle box can be as small as an inch long, or up to over a foot in length. They are adorned with elaborate inlaid wooden geometric designs, an independent craft in itself. They are produced in a few towns in small area of Japan. The town of Hakone in particular is regarded as the center of both the creation and the continuing evolution of this National Traditional Handicraft as designated by the Minister of Industry in 1984. In Japan the boxes are known as "Himitsu-Bako" or "Secret Box." On some of the finest boxes the artisan uses a technique known as Moku-Zougan, which is a picture made of various woods and often based on some of the woodblock prints from the late 1700s. The majority of these boxes with pictures in wood are made up of three common scenes which in the 1780s were clearly visible from Hakone #1) Mountains; Mt Fugiyama is easily visible from Hakone with its distinct white cap of snow #2) Trees; In and around Hakone are many species of trees; #3) Water; If the water is seen from Hakone it is more than likely the water in Lake Ashino. Many if not most of these scenes show a house tucked into the trees with a boat on the lake and Mt. Fuji clearly visible in the background. San means 3 and sui represents the three elements of nature water, trees and mountains combined to form the Sansui scene familiar to almost everyone who grew up in the 1950s and through the 1970s.
These boxes were made in various complexities and consist basically of 4 moves with a variety of twists here and there to trick the person trying to open the boxes, but the real trick is finding the correct series of movements that can range from 2 to 125 moves. Mr. Yoshio Okiyama, until recently, was credited with making the most complex box which requires 125 moves to open. He also made boxes which require from 78 to 90, 102, 122 moves to open and his final box, made while he was in his late 70's, was a 119 move box with a wood picture of a Geisha on the top and a bow, as on a gift, on the bottom. Only 19 of these complex boxes were made for sale while another 8 in a different style were made for sale in foreign markets. Mr. Okiyama died in March of 2003, approximately at the same time as another master of this craft, Mr. Kenji Suzuki. Another box-maker, Mr. Yoshiyuki Ninomiya makes the perhaps finest Himitsu-Bako to ever grace a collector's display area. Finding the Kannuki (sliding key sections) on one of his boxes is often nearly impossible to the untrained eye. Mr. Ninomiya has made fit and finish his life's work, at least in terms of the Himitsu-Bako.
Recently, boxes with up to 324 steps have surfaced, and been credited to Hiroshi Iwahara.
