From “dissected maps” to parlour amusements
The roots of the jigsaw puzzle are usually traced to eighteenth‑century Britain, where mapmakers mounted printed maps onto thin wood and then cut them along national or county borders. These dissected maps helped children learn geography by reassembling the political outlines. The idea was practical and elegant: the printed image provided guidance, while the cut lines suggested logical groupings and borders.
Early sets were crafted by hand. A single artisan prepared the mounting, sawed the pieces, and finished the edges. Because each piece was cut individually, parts were unique and often irregular. There was no standard “knob and hole” silhouette; instead, the shapes followed the whims of the sawyer and the contours of the underlying image.
Materials and accuracy
Wooden backings (often mahogany or similar hardwood) provided durability, but weight and cost limited scale. Print quality, glue, and wood stability all affected how cleanly a puzzle could be cut and reassembled. The emphasis was educational value over mass entertainment, though families soon discovered the quiet pleasure of piecing pictures together at home.
Not yet a “jigsaw”
The label “jigsaw” appeared later, with the spread of powered fretsaws and coping saws. Early makers used hand tools; the later association with the jigsaw tool retroactively named the pastime.