Masquerade

Hands up anyone who remembers Kit Williams and

his golden hare?  How I wish we could all have another

dose of his magic in our lives again right now.

And for those of you for whom the name doesn't ring any bells

let me enlighten you immediately although sadly much,

much too late to join the treasure hunt his beautiful book which

sold two million copies worldwide sparked back in August

1979 when virtually the entire nation fell captive

beneath it's spell

Masquerade as it is called is a picture book like no other which was

both written and illustrated by Kit.  However his talents don't stop

there as he also created a breathtakingly beautiful, jewel

encrusted 18 carat golden hare which he then hid in a secret

ceremony with just one celebrity witness, Bamber Gascoigne,

somewhere in the British countryside (Ampthill Park, Bedfordshire).

Clues to the location were buried deep within the pages and

lavish illustrations of the book.  The riddle was finally solved in

1982 and the amulet was later bought at auction in 1988 by a

mystery buyer for an astonishing £31,900.

It can still be read to this day as a charming children's tale about the

moon falling in love with the sun with Jack Hare as their go-between

but the buried treasure has long since been discovered by the winner

after deciphering correctly all the fiendishly difficult clues.

A second puzzle book followed some time later and this time the

challenge was to discover it's title and represent it without the

use of the written word..  Often referred to as "The Bee

Book" the answer was finally revealed as "The Bee on the Comb".

And just like all good nursery tales the competition ran for exactly

a year and a day.

The Wishing Fish clock

Kit went on to publish a couple of other books and was also

commissioned to create three public clocks with elaborate mechanisms

and moving parts such as animals.  He is now virtually a recluse and

continues to paint figurative art at his studio in Gloucestershire.