Monthly Archives: March 2014

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DSC_0713 dots

The One Dot in this Mahjong set has the bright blue we saw on the One Bam peacock's tail. The center, with its four small ovals, is similar to some we have seen before.  The colors in this set, with the use of gold and other brilliant colors, are reminiscent of those seen in some of the Viennese Secessionist art, such as paintings by Klimt. To see works by Klimt in Wikipedia, click here.

The other Dots are deeply carved, with circles within circles. The innermost circle just has a dot of gold paint. We saw that here.

DSC_0703winds

You can quickly see how different this hand carved set of Winds are than what we are used to seeing, with the South and East very different indeed. Compare the above with the hand carved bone and bamboo set seen below.

DSC_0857 news

The Flowers and Dragons will appear on March 11.

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DSC_0705 purple

This delightful hand carved Mahjong set is very different from those we are used to seeing.

The white plastic laminate is on top of a purple plastic back which is three times its depth. The two pieces clearly were made separately and then glued together.

The Mahjong One Bam peacock is outstanding. Who can resist that bright blue tail and the two feathers atop its head? As is the case with many of these unusual laminate sets, many of the details have carvings of different depths.

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On the One Bam the tail circles are quite deep, and then painted with gold paint.

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Note the number of dots in each tail is different, and the outline of the bird is either blue or gray.

The other Bams have a peppermint stick look to them with their coloring, with not even a glimpse of the greens we are used to seeing.

DSC_0711

The Craks are quite wonderful too. The Arabic numbers were carved with a bit of flair, as were the Chinese numbers. The Wans are the simple form.

It bears some resemblance to another set we examined earlier.

More of the set will be posted March 10.

 

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DSC_0680 other half

These hand carved Flowers are from the Chinese Bakelite Mahjong set discussed March 7th. This set came with 16 Flowers.  The top row is a courtship series, and it is completely delightful. Don't you love the details of the clothing: the high heels she is wearing, the floral arrangement on tile 3 echoing the flowers on her dress, the buttons on the man's jacket and the pleat on the front of the pants' legs? On tile 4 the woman's raised leg, poised in mid-step, adds to the fun. On tile 3 she looks out a curtain, probably expecting her suitor's arrival.

The bottom tiles introduce volleyball to the list of leisure activities we saw yesterday: tennis, swimming, and playing with swords, dogs and balloons. The girl on tile 3 seems about to hit a volleyball serve.

Once again, Ray Heaton has provided an translation.

"Top row are 花好月圓, Hua Hao Yue Yuan and literally means 'lovely flowers, round moon' but is an idiom for 'everything is wonderful' or 'conjugal bliss', the last seems to fit nicely with the tiles.  If you search Google using these characters you also find it described as 'Blooming Flowers, Full Moon'.
Second row are 青春生活, Qing Chun Sheng Huo: Qing Chun together are "Youthful" and Sheng Huo are "Activity" or "Life", so I'd expect these to translate as something along the lines "An Active Youth". "
If you want some fun, you can click here for an excerpt of the song Blooming Flowers Full Moon, or you can even buy a copy for 99 cents.

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DSC_0680 half

 

We are all familiar with these hand carved Mahjong leisure sets. The Flowers represent what the Chinese craftsmen thought people did in their free time.

In this set it makes a difference in terms of how the tiles are arranged. They had to be laid out 4321, or else one misses the linked scenes.

These tiles show adults in the top row. The left features two ladies playing tennis, at the net; note the short socks and sneakers. And the ladies at the pool have on those long-legged swimsuits that appeared in the 1930s. Don't you love the woman caught mid-dive?

To see more of swimsuit fashion at that time, click below

http://www.fashion-era.com/swimwear.htm#1920's%20Athletic%20Tank%20Suits

The lower row shows children at play. The ballerina, the boys playing with a sword and running with a balloon, and the little girl has a dog nipping at her dress.

Ray Heaton has translated the tiles, and feels they may be Japanese in origin.

"The bottom row has the characters 逍遙快楽.  The last of these (tile #4) is a Japanese equivalent to the Chinese character 樂, hence my linking the Japanese origin.
 
The tiles say Xiaoyao Kuaile, "Free and Unfettered, happy and joyful", I'd translate this to "unrestrained joy", (or a bit more strained to "free, unfettered and full of joy").
 
The top row are 美麗健康, Mei Li Jian Kang:  Mei Li translates to "Beautiful" and Jian Kang translates as "Healthy", so we'd maybe say "Health and Beauty"."

 

DSC_0680 others

 

This Chinese bakelite set is backed with a black wafer. The One Bams are the peacock with two feet planted, and the other Bams are rounded. The One Dot has meanders inside, and the other Dots are floral. And the Craks have the elaborate Wan. The Dragons have the symbols for Prosperity (Green) and Center symbolizing China (Red).

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DSC_0699 full sat

As collectors and people who want to have a better understanding of images on Mahjong tiles, we look for sets that have something different about them. This set certainly does, including that wonderful One Bam we saw yesterday. You will quickly see the details making the set so unusual, especially in the lower row with the clothing and the facial painting on the third person from the left. The robe of the far left man has several longevity symbols on it, including on the sleeves and lower robe. The third person has spirals on the robe, and the fourth a floral pattern.

Ray Heaton has once again provided translations and an understanding of the story behind these Mahjong tiles.

DSC_0699 bottom sat

"I don't think there's a simple translation directly into English that'd make sense, so I have interpreted a bit.
 
Bottom set are 包公出世, Bao Gong Chu Shi.  
 
I think this translates effectively to 'the Biography of Bao Gong".  Bao Gong is also known as Judge or Justice Bao, Lord Bao and Bao Zheng.
 
Chu Shi (the second two characters) mean "to be born", but looking at other uses of the phrase, it probably means here "...the life of...", hence the translation suggested.
 
There is an opera with the same title"
"Bao Gong lived from the year 999 to 1062 and was a government officer during the reign of Emperor Renzong in the Song Dynasty. Bao consistently demonstrated extreme honesty and uprightness, with actions such as sentencing his own uncle, impeaching an uncle of Emperor Renzong's favourite concubine and punishing powerful families. His appointment from 1057 to 1058 as the prefect of Song's capital Kaifeng, where he initiated a number of changes to better hear the grievances of the people, made him a legendary figure."
DSC_0699 top sat

Top set set, 狸貓換子.  Li Mao Huan Zi.  The first two are "Leopard Cat", a small wild cat from Asia.  Third one means "to exchange", and the last one means "child".

 
This is referring to the "Wild Cat Exchanged for Crown Prince" episode (in full, there's one more character for this, 狸貓換太子)."
From Wikipedia:

Wild Cat Exchanged for Crown Prince (狸貓換太子): Bao Zheng met a woman claiming to be the mother of the current Emperor Renzong. Dozens of years ago, she had been Consort Li, an imperial concubine of Emperor Zhenzong's, before falling out of favor for supposedly giving birth to a bloody dead Chinese wild cat. What really happened was a jealous Consort Liu plotting with eunuch Guo Huai to secretly swap Li's infant son with a skinned Chinese wild cat minutes after birth. The infant eventually became Emperor Renzong, but he refused to accept Bao's findings. As Kou Zhu, the palace maid who defied orders to help smuggle the baby to safety, had already died, getting a confession from Guo Huai presented a challenge. With the help of a woman dressed as Kou's ghost, Bao dressed himself as the hell overlord Yama and used Guo's fear of the supernatural and guilt to extract the confession. After the verdict was out, Bao also ordered a set of beatings for the emperor for failing to oblige filial piety; the emperor's Dragon Robe was beaten instead. Eventually Emperor Renzong accepted Consort Li and elevated her as the new Empress Dowager.

To read more about Bao Gong, click here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bao_Zheng

Thank you, Ray!

 

 

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DSC_0695

This very thick bone and bamboo mahjong set, not intended for export because of the lack of Western letters and Arabic numbers, has a few touches to delight the player and collector. The chirping bird One Bam is one of them.

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Notice the bird's mouth open in song, the claws wrapped around the branch, and the detail given to the neck and eyes.

The other Bams are rounded, and the Dots vary from the six petaled flower within flower seen on the One Dot, to the six petaled flower within a circle seen on the others.

As often  happens, mahjong tiles were lost over time. The owner of this set, however, was quite industrious; other bone and bamboo mahjong tiles were substituted for missing ones and another was carved. It is believed the other tiles were from another set because only the substituted tiles have pencil written letters and numbers.

DSC_0696 8

The substituted tile.

 

DSC_0696 south

Carved tile with S for South.

 

DSC_0696 north

Carved 8 Bam and North.

 

DSC_0697 bird

An attempt to match the bird in song.