Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group, Impressions series
Notes: Hundreds of rivers and their tributaries cross the European continent. WorldAtlas highlights those over 600 miles in length, and a few others of note.
A riverbank or stream-bank: the terrain alongside the bed of a river, creek, or stream. [Wiki]
Click on a name of the river to trace its passage through Europe and see statistical information about it on the EurAtlas site.
Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.69cm x 39.37cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group, images series, #43570-13
Notes: The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia and over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials. The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.
A labour force of twenty thousand workers was recruited across northern India. Sculptors from Bukhara, calligraphers from Syria and Persia, inlayers from southern India, stonecutters from Baluchistan, a specialist in building turrets, another who carved only marble flowers were part of the thirty-seven men who formed the creative unit. [Wiki]
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Artist: Jim Zuckerman – Jim has been a contributing editor to Photographic Magazine for 3 1/2 decades. His images, articles, and photo features have been published in scores of books and magazines including Time-Life books, publications of the National Geographic Society, Outdoor Photographer, Life Magazine, Omni Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Shutterbug, Science Fiction Age, National Wildlife and Opticon, a prestigious photo magazine in Greece. He is the author of 14 books on photography, and he now teaches many on-line courses. [Jim Zuckerman’s site]
Size: 1000 pieces
Producer: Puzzle World
Notes: Nyhavn is a 17th century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the harbour front just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 18th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants. Serving as a “heritage harbour”, the canal has many historical wooden ships.
Nyhavn was constructed by King Christian V from 1670-73, dug by Swedish war prisoners from the Dano-Swedish War 1658–1660. It is a gateway from the sea to the old inner city at Kongens Nytorv (King’s Square), where ships handled cargo and fishermens’ catch. It was notorious for beer, sailors, and prostitution. Danish author Hans Christian Andersen lived at Nyhavn 18 for some years. [Wiki]
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Impressions
Notes: Horseshoe Bend is the name for a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River located near the town of Page, Arizona, in the United States. The bend is locally known as “King Bend.” It is located 8.7 km downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, about 6 km southwest of Page. [Wiki]
A horseshoe is a U-shaped item made of metal or of modern synthetic materials, nailed or glued to the hooves of horses and some other draught animals. Like a shoe on a human, it is used to protect the animal’s feet from wear and tear. Professional horseshoers, also called farriers or blacksmiths (more commonly used in the UK), attach horseshoes on the palmar surface of the hoof, usually by nailing through the insensitive hoof wall, which is anatomically similar to the human toenail, though much larger and thicker. [Wiki]
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.6cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Impressions
Notes: Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian State of Paraná and the Argentine Province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River originates near the city of Curitiba. It flows through Brazil for most of its course. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguazu River forms the boundary between Brazil and Argentina.
The name “Iguazu” comes from the Guarani or Tupi words y, meaning “water”, and ûasú, meaning “big”. Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage the god sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. The first European to find the falls was the Spanish Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541. [Wiki]
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 40.64cm x 40.64cm
Producer: Hasbro, MB Puzzle, Big Ben series
Artist: Paul Rezendes
“In order to capture the essence and beauty of nature, there must be an intimacy with it, not as an object, but as a process that is forever changing. The more you learn to see nature, to observe it with the quality of attention that is crucial to seeing, the more one is able to create works of art.” – Paul Rezendes from: Wetlands: The Web of Life [Paul Rezendes site]
Notes: Thanks to Hasbro, once again there is no information on the puzzle box about what place the puzzle is depicting. The only information I was able to find is the photographer’s name.
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.5cm x 33cm
Producer: RoseArt, Encore series
Notes: Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe, where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.
Switzerland comprises three main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, and Italian, to which the Romansh-speaking valleys are added. The Swiss therefore do not form a nation in the sense of a common ethnic or linguistic identity. The strong sense of belonging to the country is founded on the common historical background, shared values (federalism, direct democracy, neutrality) and Alpine symbolism. [Wiki]
Size: 550 pieces
Dimensions: 61cm x 46cm
Producer: Hasbro, Milton Bradley, Picture Perfect series
Artist: Ming Feng was born on June 14, 1957 in Guangzhou (formerly Canton), China. Guangzhou, known as the “Flower City,” is situated in a subtropical area surrounded by lush trees, crisscrossing rivers and babbling brooks. “Nature’s beauty stirred my longing for art and its colorfulness gave wings to my imagination. I could not help but attempt to capture its beauty on paper. Perhaps that was the burgeoning of my passion for art. I was twelve.”
In 1988, Ming immigrated to the United States with his parents and settled in New York. The diversity of art there broadened his horizon while the market offered him more opportunities to show his paintings. He lived near New England’s Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, which today still remain his favorite places and the sources of his inspiration. [Framing Box site]
Notes: Beautiful puzzle cut with gaps being nearly invisible. Pieces fit together perfectly and there is no paper dust. A pleasure to assemble, glue, and display.
Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.57cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Classic Treasures series
Notes: The Plaza de Cibeles is a square with a neo-classical complex of marble sculptures with fountains that has become an iconic symbol for the city of Madrid.
The fountain of Cibeles is found in the part of Madrid commonly called the Paseo de Recoletos. This fountain, named after Cybele (or Ceres), Roman goddess of nature, is seen as one of Madrid’s most important symbols. The Cibeles fountain depicts the goddess, sitting on a chariot pulled by two lions. The fountain was built in the reign of Charles III and designed by Ventura Rodriguez between 1777 and 1782. The goddess and chariot are the work of Francisco Gutierrez and the lions by Roberto Michel. The fountain originally stood next to the Buenavista Palace, and was moved to its present location in the middle of the square in the late 19th century. Up until the 19th century both the fountain of Neptune and Cibeles looked directly at each other, until the city council decided to turn them round to face towards the centre of the city. [Wiki]
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26 cm x 35.56 cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Keepsakes series, Reusable gift box with magnetic closure, #442220-5
Artist: John Seerey-Lester
Notes: The Arctic Wolf (Canis lupus arctos), also called Polar Wolf or White Wolf, is a species of mammal of the family Canidae, and a subspecies of the Gray Wolf. Arctic Wolves inhabit the Canadian Arctic, Alaska and the northern parts of Greenland.
They have lived in North America for more than two million years. When they find a den, they make a couple of chambers for food and young. Arctic wolves live on the islands of the Canadian Arctic, and the north coast of Greenland, roughly north of 70° North latitude. The Arctic Wolf is the only subspecies of the Gray Wolf that still can be found over the whole of its original range, largely because, in their natural habitat, they rarely encounter humans.
Their habitat is extremely harsh and remote, and few scientists venture into that world during the long, dark winter – even the vast majority of Inuit live further south than the Arctic wolf. As a result, the details of their lives through much of the year are virtually unknown. [Wiki]
Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26 cm x 35.56 cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Churches and Cathedral series
Notes: Coyote Gulch is a tributary of the Escalante River, located in Garfield and Kane Counties in southern Utah, in the western United States. Over 40 km long, it exhibits many of the geologic features found in the Canyons of the Escalante, including high vertical canyon walls, narrow slot canyons, domes, arches, and natural bridges.
The headwaters of Coyote Gulch have their origins along a 22 km segment of the Straight Cliffs, the eastern edge of the Kaiparowits Plateau. These intermittent streams merge to form larger branches, including Dry Fork, Big Hollow, the main branch of Coyote Gulch, and Hurricane Wash. The combined flow from these branches have carved a canyon up to 300 m deep into sandstone layers, before meeting the main channel of the Escalante River. [Wiki]
