HIDE and SEEK
by
Perry & Co.,Ltd.
London c.1890

 

This double sided maze measures 97mm square and 16mm thick and is constructed of a single lead casting sandwiched between two pieces of glass. This combination of weight and fragility probably accounts for the small number that have survived over the past 110 years.

The objective is to put a small ball through the opening at the front, allow it to drop down the hole immediately in front of the opening, then discover the route through the maze going up and down from compartment to compartment until the ball exits the hole to the right of the start position.

This maze is described in Hoffmann's Puzzles Old and New 1893 and, as can be seen from the illustration opposite, the solution is not trivial. Every time you turn the maze over you tend to lose track of which hole the ball just dropped through.