~448 Total pcs
~31 Silhouettes
~23 1/2″ x 14 3/4″
1976!

One of the rarest Staves we have come across and the oldest one to date. Not only was it cut by Stave founder, Steve, Richardson, but it was originally part of the famous Lilly collection. This is very rare opportunity to add a very special puzzle to your Stave collection. We have only seen 3 Staves on the market since RAR started that are the “pre blue box” mosaic style box like this. We spoke with someone at Stave some time ago if they knew when they switched boxes, but they weren’t sure, but was very early.

The puzzle itself is a Matisse called “Interior with Flowers and Parrot” cut in the fantasy cut style, which is not as common to find. It has some nice silhouettes and what makes it really interesting is to see how different the cutting style and detail in the silhouettes has changed over the last 45 years compared to modern Staves, a real piece of Stave history here (pun intended!)

Overall the puzzle is in very good condition. There is some wear and a few pieces with some minor uplifting and a few pieces with the paper layer rubbed off on a point here and there, but nothing to big considering the age. There are 3 major things to note: 1) One piece was chewed and replaced (see pics – the original chewed piece is being included in a separate bag) 2) The box lid has split in one corner and has a depression in the top, looks like maybe another box was placed on top and damaged it. We did not tape the corner so to keep things as original as possible. 3) The tissue has been replaced, we did not have tissue large enough for this box to completely enclose it, so it does have loose sheet protecting the top. 6 personal pieces (3 x names, 2 x initials, 1 x “3rd”).