This is a delightful Mahjong set made by the German Company Schildkrote, and I thought it a very appropriate way to celebrate Valentine's Day. The set itself can bring joy to our hearts. And you will see why this is especially good for this day, but you will have to keep reading!
Notice the charming folk art-like sparrow, and the seed Bams which echo those early forms from old Mahjong sets (see Michael Stanwick's site: www.themahjongtileset.co.uk Gallery 1.1 The Wilkinson set). You can also see there is a bit of liberty taken with the arrangement of the 7 Bams, as well as the 7 Dots. The Wans are all a bit different one from the other, indicating parts of the set were hand-carved. (Reader Tony feels they may have just used different stamps for the Wans, thus explaining the variations.)
Although a few people have thought it to be ivory, the top is actually a thin plastic laminate on a wood back.
The Winds and the Dragons are quite similar to those we often see. The White Dragon here is just the plain White plastic laminate top, not in the photo.
And now for the Big Reveal:
The Flowers!! There are four hearts, and Ray Heaton has translated the characters to mean a pull on the heart. I'd like to think this means "love." When you note that there are directions on the tiles, and East, South, West and North are all present, although not photographed, I'd like to think this means that love is everywhere, for dear friends and relatives, and for the game of mahjong itself.
Tony
I have one of these, they are delightful!
The box is a typically restrained German black faux leather flip-top design, with the Shildkröte logo of a tortoise hidden under the flap.
The tiles are impressed casein glued to red hardwood and show a feature / mistake common in some German sets (particularly Richter), the upside down 6s & 7s.
I'm pretty sure that they used several stamps to make the tiles, hence the variation in the wans, I don't think they were carved.
My set has been christened "Heartstrings".