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International Team and the jigsaw puzzles    International Team was first of all a company specialized in jigsaw puzzles. The pictures were unusual, far away from the landscape postcards style.    There was no advertising in the box so it's not easy to rebuild the catalogue list. The numbering system was simple: 30xx for the 150 pieces, 40xx for the 280 pieces, 60xx for the 500 pieces, 80xx for the 1000 pieces and 90xx for the 1500 pieces. As an exception, the 2000 pieces puzzles are numbered 50xx.    The International Team punching machine was also used for the boardgames. The 150 pieces:    A beautiful jigsaw puzzle in a little box (21,5 x 14 cm). Unfortunately, it was uncomplete.    In fact, it is made of 156 pieces (13x12). The 280 pieces: 2501: Leonardo Da Vinci    A little jigsaw puzzle representing La Gioconda.    A unusual jigsaw puzzle called Pinocchio, but not signed. The 500 pieces:    This cover of Vogue is dated April 15, 1915.    This very nice picture is also available as poster.    This is an illustration from George Wolfe Plank (but it's not indicated on the puzzle). Another cover of Vogue from George Wolfe Plank exists as a 750 pieces puzzle (N°7008).    I have 3 jigsaw puzzles with the name "liberty puzzle". in Italy, the "art nouveau" was called "liberty style".    This puzzle is in fact based on a poster signed Stewart Browne (John Stewart Browne ?)    This nice puzzle is signed by Enea Riboldi in 1978, short before the first wargames were produced. On the box side, there is still the old International Team logo.    Fortunately, this jigsaw puzzle is made of only 500 pièces. It's not easy to do, with this these large uniformly colored areas 'espacially the dark area).    This naïve art jigsaw puzzle is called "dream" (rêve in French, Sogno en Italien) and is signed by Irene Invrea. Irene Invrea illustrated several jigsaw puzzles for International Team in a naïve art style including african animals (elefants, rhinoceros, flamingoes etc).    For more information on Naïve art, you can visit the International Naïve art museum website (in Nice). Design Puzzle - Guido Crepax (ref 6052)    Guido Crepax is well known for his erotic books. The picture on this puzzle is a bit mysterious. Clouet Puzzle - Signora alla toilette (ref 6055)    This puzzle - to the right - is not officially from François Clouet. It's a beautiful anonymous painting exposed in Dijon France). the original painting from François Clouet "Dame au Bain" (1571) - to the left - is visible in the National Gallery of Art of Washington. This painting comes inside an inspiration stream starting by "la Joconde" and followed by several paintings of nude women of "cold beauty". An analysis of the painting of François Clouet is made in this french text on the portrait in the XVIth century.     This puzzle is part of three anonymous paintings exposed in Bâle, Worcester, and Dijon. See Le site de la fondation Jacques-Edouard Berger (french). The 750 pieces:    This nice puzzle represents a church window from the famous French Cathedrale de Chartres. The serial number is 7004 and it is a 750 pieces but it has the same size (width and heigt) than a 1000 pieces. The puzzle pieces are quite big. In Italian, vetrate means stained glass.    The stained glass of the cathedrale de Chartres are very famous; the puzzle represents the lower part on a big stained glass about the life of Jesus christ. These are in fact the 6 first scenes. 7005: Reporter Puzzle (Indonesia)    An old picture titled "reporter" but looking more like a turistic postcard. 7007: Poster Puzzle    A prince ? A king ? A religious leader ?    This cover of Vogue is dated february 15, 1916. The Price was 25 cents at that time but I found one ebay auction finished at $148,50 (25-Aug-2007).    This very nice picture is also available as poster.    Thanks to the ebay auction, I identified the artist: George W Plank who designed some other covers visible here on www.vogue.co.uk in a very interesting part of the web site where you can see 90 old covers of the magazine.    A poster from 1911/1912 about the Mercedes cars from Daimler. The original poster, seen on the German site http://www.plakatkontor.de/, is a bit bigger: the bottom text has been cut.    Mercedes was the surname of Emil Jellinek's daughter. Emil Jellinek was a major distributor of Daimler's cars. The 1000 pieces: 8001: Bosch Puzzle - L'Adorazione del magi     L'adorazione del magi is part of a beautiful tryptic from Hieronymus Bosch, painted in 1510. However, the puzzle only covers a small detail. Mary is not visible. 8003: Mosaici Puzzle - Imperatore Giustiniano    A nice puzzle that represents the Emperor Justinian (Imperatore Giustiniano). Justinian was one of the most important rulers of Late Antiquity. He reigned in Constantinople on the Eastern Roman Empire, from 527 to 565. He unveiled the church of Ste Sophie. This church that beacame a mosque is today a famous place for tourists in Istambul.    The puzzle is a detail from a mosaic of the San-Vitale church in Ravenne, well visible on its page in Wikipedia. Ravenne is a city located in the north of Italy, not far from Venezia. It is a famous place for the byzantine art in Italy.    I have 3 jigsaw puzzles with the name "liberty puzzle". in Italy, the "art nouveau" was called "liberty style".    This puzzle is in fact based on a 1897 poster signed Edel (Alfredo Edel ?). I bought it 1 euro in a flea market, but it was uncomplete: 5 parts were missing. The red dress is especially hard to do. 8009: La polvere di Pirlimpinpi    A nice poster "La polvere di Pirlimpinpin". The charlatan who tries to sell his medicine is the second man to the left.    An uncommon subject: a modern variant of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The pied piper is attracting the cars out of the city.    The picture is signed Peg and the artist name is indicated on the box: Gianni Pegoraro, better known under the name Gianni Peg. Gianni Peg illustrated several books and comics, and also realized cartoons in italy. One of its most famous books is "Alex. Il piccolo fantastico giocoliere", distributed in several languages "Alex le fabuleux jongleur", "Alex: The Amazing Juggler" or "Alex der erstaunliche Jongleur : ein Bilderbuch" that is available in the art museum of Hamburg library (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe).    A naive art painting signed by Irene Invrea (see the 6016 puzzle - 500 pieces, 8059 - 1000 pieces, 5101 and 5110 - 2000 pieces).    This banknote poster on an Italian flag background is unusual, with large green, white and red areas.    This jigsaw puzzle is named Fantasy puzzle: Dulac/Foresta Incantata.    It's a fantasy illustration from Edmund Dulac, probably coming from a Fairy Tales book.    Edmund Dulac was an illustrator very active during the first part of the 20th Century. He illustrated several Fairay Tales books in England with Arthur Rackham. His most famous illustrations were created for the little mermaid and The Arabian nights. Several examples are available on the BPIP (Bud Plant Illustrated books) site.    He was born in France in Toulouse in 1882 and emigrated to England in 1904. He met the General De Gaulle during the world war 2 and designed at that time stamps for Free-France colonies. In 1942, he also designed the stamp La Marianne de Dulac also named "from London" to be used when France will be liberated.       This jigsaw puzzle numbered 8055 is named Design Puzzle / Coco. Thank you Bas who send me the pictures.    A jigsaw puzzle by Emilia Baragiola named "Momento Magico / Moment Magique / Magic Moment / Magischer Moment".    Another Naive art jigsaw puzzle from Irene Invrea: Flamingoes    This jigsaw puzzle is named Campagne/Campagna/Campaign/Land by Blanc.    In the same serie and from the same artist, this puzzle is named Pescatrice / Pécheresse / Fisher Woman / Anglerin.    There are very large white zones.    I made it with my daughter but one piece was missing The 1500 pieces:    A jigsaw puzzle from the "Design" serie. The picture is signed Coco and is titled Tentazione (temptation). It's again an uncommon subject. 9003: Rubens Puzzle - Lo sbarco di Maria De' Medici a Marsiglia    It's a painting from the Louvres Museum in Paris: The Debarkation at Marseilles.    RubensWorked a lot on Marie de Medicis life, see the site "Peter Paul Rubens - The Life of Marie de Medici".    A jigsaw puzzle from the "Naif" serie. There is no information on the artist name.    A jigsaw puzzle from the "Poster" serie.    These jigsaw puzzles from the "design puzzle" series are signed "Augu Pro Marcenaro". The first one (serial number 9008) is older and the second one (9052) is probably a reprint on silk paper.    A jigsaw puzzle from the "humor Design" derie. Fabrizio Del Tessa is an artist well known for his big nose characters. See for instance La fantastica storia di Pietrasant    The jigsaw puzzle 9022 "In Poltrona / En Fauteuil", to the left, is an erotic picture.    The jigsaw puzzle 9024 "Rosa", to the right, is a blurred style picture inspired from David Hamilton. 9027: Procession    Back to more spiritual values :-). 9051, 9054 and 9057:                  The puzzle 9051 "Pegoraro/Fiaba", is a drawing from Gianni Pegoraro who also illustrated the puzzle 8011.    The puzzle 9054 seems to be an old painting representing Krishna.    The puzzle 9057 is a drawing from the Austrian painter Gustav Klimt. Hygieia is a detail that was planned to be integrated in a large seiling painting called "Medicine" that provocated controvertial criticisms in its time.    The jigsaw puzzle 9056 is called "Mosaico Puzzle of Basilica di S. Marco - Cupoletta Genesi. oro-or-gold". It's of course de the geneis Cupola from the famous St Marks Basilica in Venice.    A special "Thank you" to Eugénie Knox who send me this picture ;-) The "silver" serie:    The "silver" serie was printed on a silver metallic paper    The 9063 puzzle is called Vele (sail). The "super stars" serie:    The super star series were mainly produced for the USA market. like the zodiac series, they were printed on silk paper (gold coloured). These puzzles were designed by Ermes Miceli.    A special thank you to George Mackie, from England, who gave me a picture of the Marilyn puzzle before to sell it.    A special thank you to Dawn Maxwell, from United Kingdom, who owns this James Dean puzzle and who gave me these pictures. She also proposed me to let his E-mail address on my site. So if you are a fan, if you like such collector, if you want to discuss with Dawn, you can write to dawnmaxw@onetel.com         The 1500 pieces - The zodiac series and Alphonse Mucha:    Alfons Maria Mucha (also called Alphonse Mucha) is a Czech Art Nouveau painter who lived between 1860 and 1939. He become famous in Paris with a first poster for Sarah Bernhardt realised in 1894, followed by several years of collaboration with her. Artists are sometime immortals and Mucha is today alive and very popular: for instance, you can find 4 different 2006 calendars based on Mucha painting in the site calendars.com. It makes some continuity with the Calendars illustrated by Mucha in the end of the 19tyh Century    I suggest you a visit toThe Mucha Museum Prague's site and his page on Wikipedia.    Alfons Mucha inspired the zodiac series of International Team puzzle. These puzzles were of high quality, printed on silk paper with gold colours. You can see the final result here, thanks to Philippe A who realised it and send this picture to me. The puzzle is well designed, with an interesting colour split.    The pictures of the Zodiac series were realised by several illustrators inspired by Mucha. A 13th puzzle called "Liberty puzzle, Mucha" completed this series.    The zodiac signs are are for marketing: the picture is usually not linked with the zodiac sign. For instance on the Taurus picture, there is a wild boar. This marketing concept was a good idea and this series will later be distributed by Editrice Giochi    These puzzles were distributed in France by the "Relais Jeux Descartes" shops. The following picture is extracted from an advertising found in the game "superbowl" and fully reproduced in the catalogue page.                                    At least 4 of these puzzles are clearly inspired from Mucha: 3 are inspired from the precious stone series and one from "la femme au coquelicots". La femme aux coquelicots Topaze Emeraude Améthyste The 13th puzzle: Liberty puzzle, Mucha    An art nopuveau "Liberty Puzzle" printed on silk paper, not far from the zodiac series. In Italy, the "art nouveau" was called "liberty style". The illustrator is Mucha, and the lady represented here was probably Sarah Bernhardt. The illustrator name is indicated (but not well readable) on the box, using green colour on a blue background under the "oro-or-gold" logo.    This picture reproduced a painting called "la Fleur" (here to the left). It is today still sold as an original postcard from 1902 on the postershop.fr site . If you compare the jigsaw puzzle with the original painting, the bottom part is cut: so the Mucha signature is not visible anymore. The Editrice Giochi variants    When International Team bankrupted, Editrice Giochi bought the copyrights on the zodiac series puzzles. They are still on the EG catalogue but not in stock today..    There was several release with minor variants.    This Taurus jigsaw puzzle Was realised in Holland with a copyright from 1989. Its size is 58x84 cm (to be compared to the IT size of 58x78cm). At that time, the Editrice Giochi Logo is "EG International".    This Leo jigsaw puzzle Was realised in Spain with a copyright from 1994. Its size is 60x85 cm (to be compared to the IT size of 58x78cm). The box is higher - so there are two black strips on the box. The Editrice Giochi logo became EG with a background text : "GAMES LOISIRS JUEGOS SPIEL GIOCHI".        The 2000 pieces:    A naive art painting signed by Irene Invrea (see the 6016 puzzle - 500 pieces, 8013 and 8059 - 1000 pieces, 5110 - 2000 pieces). This naïve art jigsaw puzzle is called "dream" (rêve in French, Sogno en Italien) and is signed by Irene Invrea. Irene Invrea illustrated several jigsaw puzzles for International Team in a naïve art style including african animals (elefants, rhinoceros, flamingoes etc).    A painting signed Adalberto Sampaolo. The puzzle title is "Pazzo Mondo / Crazy world / Fou Monde / Die Verruckte Welt" but I am not sure that it is the real name of the painting. In the gallery of Adalberto Sampaolo web site, there is another painting with a balloon sky: festa per tutti. Les 4 saisons:     These three 2000 pieces puzzles (ref 5103 5104 and ?) are named "Winter Scene" "Autumn" and "Summer". They are signed by Ermes Miceli. These come from a 4 seasons serie.    Another Naive art jigsaw puzzle from Irene Invrea based on a blue rhinoceros (see the jigsaw puzzle 6016 / 500 pieces).    An uncommon puzzle: a picture of Notre Dame With an impressionist background on it. Some price (2004-2006):    On Ebay, The International Team puzzles are usually cheap. Each EG puzzle from the zodiac series is available for around 30 euros in stores. Puzzle N° EBAY Price EBAY Country Date Humphrey Bogart 1500 pieces 5976100652 $ 12,50 USA 24 May 2005 Marlene Dietrich 1500 pieces 5976103182 $ 12,50 USA 24 May 2005 Liberty puzzle - Mucha 5980363170 EUR 1,99 France 16 Jun 2005 100 000 Lires 5984844514 EUR 9,90 Italy 5 July 2005 Rosa 5231757078 EUR 12,50 Italy 27 August 2005 Science Fiction - Delta 6555347095 $5,24 USA 29 August 2005 Rodolfo Marcenaro 6006332856 £1,50 UK 23 oct 2005 Cancer 6011179432 EUR 16,42 France 15 Nov 2005 Liberty puzzle: Mucha 6015352803 EUR 23,05 France 27 Nov 2005 Science fiction puzzle delta 6015368672 EUR 9 France 27 Nov 2005 Autumn puzzle 6016759164 $ 3,25 USA 2 Dec 2005 100 000 Lires 6018124924 EUR 6,49 France 6 Dec 2005 Pinocchio 6024354011 $ 7 USA 29 Dec 2005 Marlene Dietrich 6026914652 £ 7,50 UK 13 Jan 2006 Elephant Oasis 6029128415 $ 7 USA 14 Jan 2006 Zodiac: Pisces 6028092731 £ 7,16 UK 15 Jan 2006 Mosaic puzzle - Imperatore Giustiniano 6028523369 £ 6,61 UK 20 Jan 2006 Pinocchio 6031718613 $ 6,99 USA 31 Jan 2006 Marlene Dietrich 8754714456 EUR 9,90 Italy 31 Jan 2006 Zodiac: Capricornus 6033209487 EUR 11,50 France 9 Feb 2006 Zodiac: Sagittario 6033211811 EUR 13,16 France 9 Feb 2006 Zodiac: Aries 8763428169 EUR 3,50 Germany 15 Feb 2006 Notre Dame 6036964749 £ 1,85 UK 25 Feb 2006 Flamingoes 6036968558 £ 0,99 UK 25 Feb 2006 Blue Rhinoceros 6042779689 $ 9,99 USA 16 Mar 2006 Design Puzzle - Coco 6044712096 not sold Italy 27 Mar 2006 Zodiac - Virgo 6051195994 $ 6,50 USA 19 April 2006 Zodiac - Pisces 6051196528 not sold USA 19 april 2006 Super Stars: Marilyn Monroe 9129219136 £ 26 UK 30 april 2006 liberty puzzle 8008 6053810140 $ 11,00 USA 1 may 2006 Zodiac - Virgo 6056871771 EUR 14 France 14 may 2006 Greta Garbo et Tour d'Italie 6056874782 EUR 7 France 14 may 2006 Greta Garbo 6059062574 £ 7 UK 26 may 2006

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