plastic

French Ivory Bird part 1

Kuan Yin • February 21, 2014

This particularly beautiful hand carved French Ivory Mahjong set actually greatly resembles a lot of high-end bone and bamboo Mahjong tiles.

The One Bam bird is delightful, perched on a branch.

Notice how many strokes are used to create this bird, giving it a great deal of detail. The cross hatching gives it more visual interest.

The other Bams are the rounded variety. The Craks are the elaborate Wan.

The One Dot has a central plum blossom surrounded by meanders, the abstract pattern used to fill what could have been unadorned space. The other Dots have a six-petaled flower within an outside circle.

The backs of these tiles are black. French Ivory is made by alternating two slightly different colors of plastic, and slicing through this block to make tiles with the lines reminiscent of real ivory.

The Flowers will be posted tomorrow.

Green set • 1 Comment

Kuan Yin • February 3, 2014

Sometimes a set stands out because of the lovely and unusual color combinations of the material and the paint colors. This is one such set.

Of course Bams cannot be green here, they would never be seen! So we have white Bams on the green background. The pink adds a bit of snap to it.

The pink Crak wans are lovely when paired with the blue Chinese numbers.

The Flowers are the beauties often seen. The Green Dragons are White, the Red are the pink, and the White are an elaborate white frame. The Winds are the lovely blue color.

The One Dot has a meander as one of the outside rings, with a flower petal center. The other Dots are the flower heads inside a circle.

Rottgames

Kuan Yin • January 31, 2014

This post was sent to us by our friend Katherine. It often is very hard to determine who made old vintage sets.

"One can read in CHarli's, "The Preface", to her book that she believes there were few manufacturers in the 1920s and 1930s, but many different labels. I am hoping to help illustrate this with a few images. Link to CHarli's site:

http://www.charli.org/AllThingsMahJong.html

The tiles with the three very distinct colors are all most likely from the same manufacturer,

from sometime during the 1920-30s. While they all have some similarities, they are all

different labels. Top row, most likely, Rottgames. Middle row, Macys. Bottom row, Ivorycraft.

mf5IxGoq5DuYLstJgJ6OTOT3g8AZMmBlRilf9sU_BYhX8fyc1M3wZ9xOBqI13QIOMrDiceQhFP8bKuyyOYrkpAhU_BShrx45J_4yJL_cw0zK_IeJieYupva7XugMVL_M1KRxIuz-LI0GdrNQ2dgAIpdCpbw4tfrkBFA=s0-d-e1-ft

Seen in the lone image of the Rottgames tiles... These tiles are all thought to be from the

same label, Rottgames. We know the top row and bottom row are for certain, they are in the

1940s Rottgames catalog. The middle row (from the 1920-30s) because of the similarities in

the dot tiles to later Rottgames sets is likely a Rottgames set. Top row, "round" Peacock

(Turkey) Set.

Middle row, Sparrow Set. Bottom row, Crane (Chicken) Set."

Thank you Katherine!

So, do you think this set is a Rottgames too? Many do. The Flowers are the same, the White Dragon is like the one above, and the Green and Red Dragons are similar too.

Small Chinese Bakelite 1

Kuan Yin • January 22, 2014

At first this set resembles most cb sets we have seen, but there is a small difference which adds to its charm. As you can see on the Bam suit, the bamboos are very close together, made possible by the placement of the numbers beside the bamboo, instead of between the stalks. The One Dot is an abstract meander around a floral interior, and the other Dots have floral interiors. The Craks are the elaborate wan.

You can see the difference between the look of the small set versus the bigger one.

Tri-color set • 1 Comment

Kuan Yin • January 4, 2014

It is easy to understand why these newer (we think from from the 1960s until 1970s) hand-carved lucite tiles are so popular. The crisp white background really sets off the bright color palette used by the painters, and the colors and the designs often can bring a smile to the viewer's face. Even the numbers seem to be animated. Many of us feel these hand-carved sets are undervalued at present.

The One Bam is a version of the standing pheasant so often seen on bone and bamboo tiles and on bakelite and catalin tiles. (What is interesting is that the bakelite and catalin tiles once probably looked very much like these tiles, although those were not hand-carved: both bakelite and catalin get yellower with age and exposure to light, and probably started off looking very much like this when they were manufactured.)

The One Dots are unusual with their internal rings and squares. The other Dots have a simplified floral center pattern.

The Craks feature the elaborate Wan, and all the Chinese numbers (the blue) appear animated. You will note that the colors used for Arabic numbers in each suit is different.

The Winds are a crisp looking red and blue. The Dragons are figurative for the Red and Green, and more of the Chinese looking frame for the White Dragon.

The color gold is not often seen on tiles, but it appears on each Flower tile in this set. The three people in the top row of tiles are a delightful addition to the scenes. The second row has flowers, although I can't identify all of them: plum blossom, orchid, unknown and bamboo.

The bottom eight are simplified symbols, and these will be discussed in another post. You will often see these on Flower tiles.

The large Big Joker carving, along with the shape of the Bams and the Craks, points to the set having been made by Cardinal.

The tiles really are wonderful when seen from the side, with their three layers. This set has the beautiful green backs, the clear centers, and white faces. We thank our friends at mahjongmahjong for sending us these photos. To see more of this set and other sets in their private collection, click here

http://www.mahjongmahjong.com/vintage_mahjong_pc/tri-colour_mj7.htm

Lively Brightly Colored Set

Kuan Yin • December 27, 2013

I love this set. It is hand carved and painted, and highly unusual. The tiles are made of bright white laminate glued onto black painted wood backs. The graphics are very different, and the artist has taken great liberties with the real looks of the Chinese words and numbers. The choice of colors is interesting, and one of the few, perhaps only, times I have seen pinks and lilacs used.

I think the One Dots may have had a special center, because all four of them now look like someone might have carved into them to inset something.

Here is the comparison of Winds of this set with those from the one made by the Chinese Game Company, another highly stylized set seen earlier this week.

Chinese Game Company • 1 Comment

Kuan Yin • December 24, 2013

Chinese Games Company — Chinese Game Company

Chinese Game Company was based in Montreal, Canada. It made fabulous hand-carved and painted Mahjong sets.

You can see here the Bamboo sprout One Bam, very much resembling a pineapple which many people call it. The bright colors and unique arrangement of the Dots are also hallmarks of these sets. If you look carefully at the Dots, from the 4 Dot upward, you will notice that those four dots stay constant in their positions and colors, and other dots are just added to the tile, making the carving much simpler.

The red Flowers show a fisherman, musician, farmer and scholar. The green Flowers have an unusual placement of the 2. None of the Flowers have a Chinese word on them.

The Dragons are old style. The Green is the symbol Fa for prosperity, the Red Chung for center, and the White P for Po meaning white blank.

These wind markers came with the set. The color goes really well with the paint on the tiles. Sadly the West was lost, but desperation prevailed, and a new bit of the set's history came about.

Mahjong Treasures

Appreciating the Art of Mahjong; A Collector's Guide