This is a fabulous French wooden Mahjong set by Arkmel. The design of the box is delightful, with a center logo which somewhat resembles a stylized eye. The wonderful lizard will reappear on the One Dots. The set is made of simple small pieces of wood with paper decals.
Enjoy the One Dot and One Bam. How delightful are they? More tomorrow!
This a a rarely seen wood set made for Murok in Canada. You can see the unusual arrangements of Bams and the Dots; often these design details are what makes the sets appealing. The colors are also different.
Isn't this dragon wonderful?!?
Obviously the company loved the dragon too!
There were many incorrect beliefs about the origins of the game, and perhaps some of these were used to help promote the game. This pamphlet is an amusing example of the types of rule books that accompanied games.
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.
This little set is quite delightful in the designs seen on the tiles. The Craks are painted with a bit of flair, and the Dots have plum blossom centers. (Plum blossoms have five petals, symbolizing the five blessings. ) I think the One Bam bird has a lot of spirit, and the other Bams are unusual with their white striped markings. One set of the Flower tiles has the flowers often seen on these tiles. The Red and Green Dragons have the traditional letters and symbols on them: Green has the F for Fa (prosperity) and Red has C for Chung (Center). The White Dragon has the P for Po (blank).
These are wind indicators. Interestingly they have some French words (Nord, Est, Sud but not Ouest for West) for the directions, but English words for the seasons and flowers. These pieces of wood are quite big, each about the size of 12 tiles put together. The Winds have a lot of "personality" in the way they are painted.
The set came in this sweet cardboard box with wooden button drawer pulls.
I was really lucky: I bought this Fulton Specialty Company Mahjong set for $8.50 on ebay. The graphics on this wood set are delightful and rank among some of the best designs I have seen. I love the One and Two! Bams, and the others as well. A lot of thought went into the designs for all the tiles, and they are different from what we usually see, including the placement of the dots and Bams on each tile. The two colors used for the Craks confused me at first; when I received the set and was trying to lay out the suits to figure out what everything was, I could not find the low number Craks. The Chinese numbers were so stylized I did not recognize them! The Craks were painted with two different colors, adding to the unusual appearance. A coating of green paint was placed on the backs of the tiles, giving them a two-tone look. (I think the 4 Crak is upside down-sorry!)
Notice the number 2 is in the center of the circles, the arrangement of the other circles, and the Bams.
Aren't these dragons fabulous!
I love these cranes. (Cranes are symbols for longevity)
Colorful counting sticks are part of the set.
This great dragon is on the box top.
Thanks to CHarli's website for helping me to identify this set.
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