Object Details
Description
This Japanese puzzle is composed of six differently notched rods of wood that fit together to form the symmetrical puzzle that you see illustrated on the front of the box. The idea of wooden interlocking puzzles came from carpenters that made ancient wooden shrines in Japan. These shrines would not be able to withstand earthquakes with nails and glue, so wood with interlocking joints was used in place of other materials.
Interest in such puzzles began when Japan was closed to the outside world from the mid-seventeenth century until the mid-nineteenth century. Even in much of the twentieth century, objects with the word “Japan” on them had a certain allure.
The puzzle pieces fit in a box with instructions.
This object was a part of the collection of the Washingtonian Edith Meggers.
Compare 2015.3004.01, an example of the puzzle owned by mathematician Olive C. Hazlett.
Reference:
Jerry Slocum and Rik van Grol , “Early Japanese Export Puzzles: 1860s to 1969s”, Puzzlers’ Tribute A Feast for the Mind, eds. David Wolfe and Tom Rodgers, Natick, Massachusetts: A K Peters, 2002, pp. 257-272.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Edith R. Meggers
date made
ca 1920-1970
ID Number
MA.335284
catalog number
335284
accession number
314637
Object Name
Puzzle
puzzle
Physical Description
wood (overall material)
paper (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 1 cm x 6 cm x 6 cm; 13/32 in x 2 3/8 in x 2 3/8 in
place made
Japan
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Mathematical Recreations
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_694576