A "Puzzle Drive" with Union Stone Puzzles. The Sphinx

New York: A. Paul Fricke. Very good. Puzzle with original box and instruction booklet, n. d. (second half of the 19th century); box - 2 3/4 x 4 1/2 x 1/2 - with chromolithographed illustration to top half; booklet with stapled, chromolithographed wraps and illustrations in red; seven, cut stone pieces forming the puzzle; box with a bit of wear and nicks and cuts to edges; booklet with several manuscript notes and check marks; overall in about very good condition.An unusual advertising piece, it was published by the Union Stone Company of Boston, known for manufacturing cast stone (a concrete mixture "that employed molded shapes, decorative aggregates, and masonry pigments to simulate natural stone") through the Sorel process. According to the booklet, 135 shapes could be made, using all 7 stones of the puzzle in each figure.