Apuzzle box (also called asecret box ortrick box) is a box that can be opened only by solving apuzzle. Some require only a simple move and others a series of discoveries.
Modern puzzle boxes developed from furniture and jewelry boxes with secret compartments and hidden openings, known since the Renaissance. Puzzle boxes produced for entertainment first appeared in Victorian England in the 19th century[1][2] and as tourist souvenirs in theInterlaken region in Switzerland[3] and in theHakone region ofJapan at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.[4] Boxes with secret openings appeared as souvenirs at other tourist destinations during the early 20th century, including theAmalfi Coast,Madeira, andSri Lanka,[5][6] though these were mostly 'one-trick' traditions.Chinese cricket boxes represent another example of intricate boxes with secret openings.[7]
Interest in puzzle boxes subsided during and after the two World Wars. The art was revived in the 1980s by three pioneers of this genre: Akio Kamei in Japan,[8] Trevor Wood in England, and Frank Chambers in Ireland.[9] There are currently a number of artists producing puzzle boxes, including the Karakuri Group in Japan set up by Akio Kamei,[10] US puzzle box specialists Robert Yarger andKagen Sound, as well as a number of other designers and puzzle makers who produce puzzle boxes across the globe.[11]
Clive Barker's horror novellaThe Hellbound Heart (later adapted into a film,Hellraiser, followed by numerous original sequels) centers on the fictionalLeMarchand's box, a puzzle box which opens the gates to another dimension when manipulated.
