Ightham Mote, Kent

A very interesting find indeed, being an early Salmon Academy puzzle box, all seemingly matching with the puzzle inside, which is a reproduction of a painting by the British photographer/artist, Charles Essinhigh Corke(1852-1922), renowned for his studies of many of the grand properties of West Kent.
The most extraordinary thing is that this solid wood puzzle shows all the cutting style of a puzzle from the Zig-Zag puzzle company. See On the Scent as an example of this clear similarity.
This leads me to one of two possible conclusions. Firstly that the puzzle and box do not belong together. This seems very unlikely, given the clearly labelled and matching piece count or secondly, that there is a very real connection between these two Companies. Given that J.Salmon were primarily a publishers, it seems reasonable to believe that they may have sought the expertise of a puzzle cutting Company, when they decided to branch out into this new market. This is, I believe the most likely explanation and one which forms yet another important link in the history of Jigsaw Puzzle manufacture! Given the very low reference number J15, could it be that the earliest Salmon Academy puzzles were cut by the Zig-Zag Company, or could it be that one, or more of their cutters came to J.Salmon in Sevenoaks, either as employees, or to train new cutters?
Many thanks to Alan Sudbury for having supplied details and photographs of this fascinating example.

Artist: Corke, Charles Essinhigh
Date: c1924
Brand: Salmon Ltd., J.
Material: Solid wood
Nationality: British-England
Number: J15
Pieces: 100
Range: Academy
Size: 6" x 10"
Theme: Famous Buildings
Title: Ightham Mote, Kent