Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-09-18
OLD PUZZLE PICTURES.
Those in Other Generations Often Had
Political Significance.
From the Chicago News.

From the Chicago News.
Puzzle pictures of former generations are
of singular interest, for they generally have
either a personal or political meaning, and
were contrived with much ingenuity IN order
to testify devotion under mysterious aspect
without betraying the individual. One has
to search for the outline of faces in unex-
pected places-under a leaf, in the heart of
a flower amid the bark Of tree or in the
outline of vase. 1t was quite possible to
see and indeed to examine many such en-
cravings and colored prints without dis
covering their political significance When
Napoleon went to Elba and st. Helena pic
lures were scattered abroad among the fol-
lowers of the Napoleonic dynasty, for
though the Bourbons hated him this did not
prevent hundreds of the emperor's ad-
herents from cherishing his memory. Even
at an exhibition Of anti-Bonapartist carl
catures his partisans contrived to intro
duce many ingenious portraits of the hero
and his family, containing a great deal
more than appeared at the first glance.
When Napoleon was banished to Elba hid
den prof1les figured on the bases of tobacco
boxes. on the tops of canes and on the
bowls Of pipes and sometimes even in finger
rings. Some bonbonneres were brought
out with a double base. the portrait of the
emperor concealed in the lower one A
statuette of Louis XVIII had secret OPEN
ing which contain d a bronze figure of
Bonaparte. During his exile at st. Helena
funereal pictures of nature then In vogue
had hidden silhouettes of Napoleon Marie
Louise and the young king of Rome dis
covered in the surroundings of flowers,
trees and monuments.
1914 he told his followers that he would
come back with the violets. During his
absence he was always toasted under the
name of the Caporal Violette. Puzzle pic
lures took up the idea. Bunches of vioets
concealed amid their flowers and leaves
portraits of the great man. In one of these
there is portrait of Napoleon on one side,
a leaf cleverly forming his cooked hat, and
Empress Marie Louise the other, with
the young king of Rome's face In the cen
ter among the stems and buds. Napoleon
did return with the violets in the spring
of 1915 for the hundred days that ended
with Waterloo. Thus the violet was always
associated with the Bonapartes for that
time forward. Bunches of the flowers worn
by his followers commonly concealed 4. tiny
bust of Napoleon. During the reign of Ma
poleon III Empress Eugene wore violets
notably on the occasion of her wedding.
Puzzle pictures were common in England
also early last century When Queen Vic
toria came to the throne her portrait was
often concealed in the pink petals of the
rose of England and only visible when held
up to the light. There is In existence a
curious picture of a ship in full sail, with
the queen, when quite a girl, hidden behind
one of the sails, but discoverable when it
was raised. The royal allied oak, dated
1910, is among the most curious of the
Georgian examples 1t contains eleven por-
traits, among them those of George III
and w, Louis XVIII, Alexander l of Rus
STA, Napoleon, Wellington and Butcher, the
King of Spain and other notabilities. An
other curiosity is a landscape in which the
head of George Ill. lying down, surmounted
by a cooked hat, forms a mountain.