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A puzzle box (also called a secret box or trick box) is a box that can be opened only by solving a
A puzzle box (also called a secret box or trick box) is a box that can be opened only by solving a puzzle
A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzl ...
. Some require only a simple move and others a series of discoveries.
Modern puzzle boxes developed from furniture and jewelry boxes with secret compartments and hidden openings, known since the Renaissance. Puzzle boxes produced for entertainment first appeared in Victorian England in the 19th century and as tourist souvenirs in the Interlaken region in Switzerland and in the Hakone
is a List of towns in Japan, town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 11,293 and a population density of 122 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The town is a popular tourist destination due to its many o ...
region of Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Boxes with secret openings appeared as souvenirs at other tourist destinations during the early 20th century, including the Amalfi Coast, Madeira, and Sri Lanka, though these were mostly 'one-trick' traditions. Chinese cricket boxes represent another example of intricate boxes with secret openings.
Interest in puzzle boxes subsided during and after the two World Wars. The art was revived in the 1980s by three pioneers of this genre: Akio Kamei in Japan, Trevor Wood in England, and Frank Chambers in Ireland. There are currently a number of artists producing puzzle boxes, including the Karakuri group in Japan set up by Akio Kamei, US puzzle box specialists Robert Yarger and Kagen Sound
Kagen Sound (formerly Schaefer) is an American puzzle box and puzzle furniture craftsman, and is recognized as a leader in these fields.
Sound has developed a worldwide following, and is recognized as a Friend of the Karakuri Creation Group, the w ...
, as well as a number of other designers and puzzle makers who produce puzzle boxes across the globe.
Clive Barker
Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...
's horror novella ''The Hellbound Heart
''The Hellbound Heart'' is a horror novella by Clive Barker, first published in November 1986 by Dark Harvest in the third volume of its '' Night Visions'' anthology series. The story features a hedonist criminal acquiring a mystical puzzle ...
'' (later adapted into a film, ''Hellraiser
''Hellraiser'' is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker, and produced by Christopher Figg, based on Barker's 1986 novella ''The Hellbound Heart''. The film marked Barker's directorial debut. Its plot invol ...
'', followed by numerous original sequels) centers on the fictional Lemarchand's box
''The Hellbound Heart'' is a horror novella by Clive Barker, first published in November 1986 by Dark Harvest in the third volume of its ''Night Visions'' anthology series. The story features a hedonist criminal acquiring a mystical puzzle box ...
, a puzzle box which opens the gates to another dimension when manipulated.
See also
*Mechanical puzzle
A mechanical puzzle is a puzzle presented as a set of mechanically interlinked pieces in which the solution is to manipulate the whole object or parts of it. While puzzles of this type have been in use by humanity as early as the 3rd century BC ...
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Puzzle Box Mechanical puzzles