Cabinet containing jigsaw maps

British

Kew Palace

late 18th Century

A cabinet with 14 drawers containing some of the earliest surviving examples of dissected or jigsaw-puzzle maps. The maps were used to teach geography to King George III's children (among them the future George IV and William IV) by their governess, Lady Charlotte Finch (1725-1813) and are one of the first surviving educational children's toys. The puzzles include printed maps from an instructive atlas published by Palairet in Paris and the earliest dissected maps, produced by John Spilsbury in the mid-1760s. The manuscript maps were probably added by Lady Charlotte and the children: indeed, some include charming classroom mistakes.

• Medium: mahogany cabinet with engraved & manuscript maps mounted on wood
• Dimensions: 103.5 x 48 x 29cm
• Art Fund Grant: £120000 ( Total: £120,000; Export stopped)
• ArtFunded in: 2007
• Vendor: Cotsen Family Foundation

Provenance

Made for Lady Charlotte Finch, governess to the children of George III; by descent to her niece and great-niece, wife of the 2nd Earl of Ranfurly; by descent; Christie's, 2000; David Miles, Canterbury Bookshop.

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