bone and bamboo

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The brass box with 5 drawers, tiles and wood racks
The brass box with 5 drawers, tiles and wood racks. Often a drawer would be used for counting/betting sticks, dice and mings which indicate wind direction.

 

This delightful brass box holds an equally lovely set of Mahjong tiles. The panel which forms the front of the box has a man in a boat, similar to those often seen on some Chinese Bakelite Flower tiles. The wood racks were early versions and were only used to keep a player's Mahjong tiles secret; when a tile was called, that grouping would be placed on the tabletop.

Small brass box with fine carving
Small brass box with fine etching and tile and quarter used for scale

Note the lovely flowers seen on the back of this box. As in many very expensive sets, this box was designed to have all its sides seen. The box handles are very heavy, giving an important look to the box.

Unusual Flower tiles and soaring swallow One Bam
Unusual Flower tiles and Soaring Swallow One Bam

The Flower tiles on this set feature modes of transportation and types of buildings. The unusual One Dots have linear interiors, and the others are circles within circles. The Bams are of the simple rod type. One of the Flowers features a man in a boat, similar to the one seen on the front panel of the box. The tiles are in exceptional condition, with few of the streaks often seen in the bone and bamboo sets. The counting sticks are smooth, unlike the more ragged appearance of those in less expensive sets.

http://www.invaluable.com/catalog/viewLot.cfm?afRedir=true&lotRef=4f482f267b&scp=c&ri=1350

 

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One of the great things about Mahjong is the fabulous variations that exist within the strict parameters of the game tiles.

The tiles with numbers were clearly intended for the export market. The other tiles may have been as well, but often carvers did not put numbers on the tiles that were readily recognizable: the One and Two Dots can be easily understood.

Here you can see the Two Dots are either circles within circles or flower petals, both of which are often seen. With these circles within circles you can see the variations in ring width and color. The floral centers also have variations, going from the simple flower seen in row 2 on the left, to the more detailed one on the bottom row right. The flowers can be placed within other flowers.

The top left One Dot is  reminiscent of some of the earliest Dots with four dots inside the circle.

http://themahjongtileset.co.uk/tile-set-diversity/tile-set-diversity-1-1/

The top right One Dot is very similar to the bottom row left, similar to a flower within a flower, and is quite common. The second row left is one of the four tiles made by the Mah-Jongg Sales Company of America(MJSA); each of their four One Dots have a different interior, spelling out Free Mah-Jongg, supposedly an encouragement for people to play Mah-Jongg in their spare time. Notice the abstract cog-like center of the MJSA tile is seen in the lower right tile, where the partial flower petal in the NESW positions is a partial Shou in the lower right.

Although the second row right and third row right have different One Dots, you will see something in common: they both have the Shou (immortality) interior, seen more clearly in the second row set within the floral center, with two Shous divided into halves in the bottom One Dot, on the side of the floral center. The lower right Dot also has the plum blossom, the five petaled flower symbolizing the "five blessings": longevity, wealth, health, virtue, and natural death at an old age.

See here for more hidden meanings in Chinese art:

http://primaltrek.com/impliedmeaning.html

 

 

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This Mahjong One Bam is ornately carved in contrast to the simplicity of the others Bams which are shaped like rods.  The One Dot has the round shou in its center, symbolizing longevity and immortality, whereas the other Dots are simple circles. The top quartet of the Flowers/Seasons reads; fu 'good fortune and happiness'; ru 'like', dong 'eastern' and hai 'sea' = fu ru dong hai = "happiness and good fortune like the Eastern Sea". The bottom quartet reads; shou 'longevity'; bi 'compared'; nan 'Southern' and shan 'Mountain' = shou bi nan shan = "longevity compared to the South Mountain".

While typing this up, I noticed the top #1 Flower has a bat on it, another symbol of longevity. The moon rise appears on the #3 tile. The crane appearing on Bottom tile #1 is also a symbol of longevity.
 

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landscape with river
landscape with river

Here the Mahjong bone and bamboo Flower tiles are properly oriented in 1234 positions. A river is shown flowing through beautiful mountainous terrain. The Chinese character for mountain is seen on tile 2. Often Flower tiles show beautiful places in China. I love the details seen on the structure, including the stonework, the keystone on top of the arch and the roof supports. Remember these tiles are only an inch tall, so this is truly detailed carving.

Ray Heaton translated the tiles seen above, and they mean one of two things:

"Either "Green Hills Live Forever" or "Blue Mountains Live Forever".  The words for Green and Blue are the same, as is Hill and Mountain.  I think the full translation would be "May you live forever just as the Green Hills"... it seems Green Hills are associated more to a wish for a long life than Blue Mountains, but I suspect they're pretty much interchangeable!"

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Ruyi and flowers
Ruyi and flowers

The strange shape seen in each of these Mahjong tiles is a fungus known as lingzhi. The lingzhi is known as the herb of immortality. The lingzhi resembles the head of a scepter, ruyi,  (seen here in wikipedia ). Michael Stanwick notes that the scepter was actually modeled after the fungus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MS-SchnitzlackRuyiSzepter18Jh.JPG

The scepter, a symbol of nobility, also means "according to your wishes" thus the fungus means that too. (Patricia Bjaaland Welch, Chinese Art A guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery). Michael Stanwick adds "The fungus symbolism was transferred to the scepter and the scepter was often given to old men of renown or people of note. The idea being, I think, to confer longevity onto the recipient."

The fungus is seen with different plants, with two different plant groupings representing the four seasons:

top row: peony (spring) lotus (summer) the next tile may be grapes or a reader has suggested it may be a stylized chrysanthemum (autumn) and either a narcissus or camellia (winter)

bottom row: Plum (winter) orchid (spring) bamboo (summer) chrysanthemum (fall)

I have found while researching that some plants and flowers fall into two different seasons, but here the bottom row is the grouping of four plants, plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum known as the "four gentlemen" in Chinese art. Patricia Bjaaland Welch's book Chinese Art  A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery is an excellent resource for understanding symbolism on the tiles.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia article referring to the four gentlemen

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

 

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folk art Flowers
folk art Flowers

These delightful Mahjong Flowers seem like folk art to me. They are well carved, but the images are very simple. Although it is hard to know exactly what birds and bugs are seen on the tiles, there is a very faintly visible butterfly on the Red 1, more visible on the Red 2. Birds appear on the Blue 1 and 3 and Red 3 and perhaps 4. I must confess, I love the Blue and Red 4s, although I have no idea what insects or creatures they are!

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DSC_0349This delightful hand carved Mahjong set comes in a wood box with a sliding top panel. I love the Dragon Joker tile (I was lucky, there are 8 carved ones) and the One Dot with the symbol for longevity, Shou, in the center. The top row of Flowers are flowers: plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, flowers usually seen when flowers are shown. The bottom row is a bit different: the rich man and the pot of gold, and two gods: according to Wikipedia probably Lü Dongbin, who dresses as a scholar and carries a sword, and Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy. I love the gold paint used for the rich man, the pot of gold, and the spots on the peacock's tail.

Many experts consider these types of bone and bamboo tiles to be very well carved and a great value. Buy them while you can!

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The Chinese phoenix is a good luck sign. He only appears when the land is being ruled by a just king, according to Wolfram Eberhard, one of the leading Chinese symbolism scholars. The phoenix is one of the four fabulous creatures,recognizable by its long tail with a few feathers like those seen in peacocks. The other three fabulous creatures are the dragon, the turtle, and the Qi-lin, a special Chinese unicorn.  I fell for this bone and bamboo set because I loved the strutting phoenix: look at his attitude!

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Surprises can show up when you buy an old set. This set came with other tiles, covered by the Big Joker stickers that are issued by the National Mah Jongg League. (This allowed the previous owner to play with NMJL rules.) This is what I found under one such sticker, hidden for dozens of years. I believe this to be Cao Guo-Jiu, one of the Eight Immortals who often is seen wearing the official court clothing and holding a scepter. It is one of the finest carved mahjong tiles I have seen.

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The following tile did not come with the set, but it shows the Chinese character for Phoenix. The Mah-Jongg Sales Company of America, when they were first designing their own sets, placed the character for phoenix on what we call a Green Dragon today. (The Red was the symbol for Dragon.) There are two similar symbols for phoenix, one for the male and one for the female bird. MJSA used the male symbol, which has several small strokes at the bottom.

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Note the stylized lions on the front of this beautiful wood box with brass trimming
Note the stylized lions on the front of this beautiful antique wood box with brass trimming.

Lions are loved by the Chinese, but of course are not native to that country. According to Wolfram Eberhard, the first lions were probably brought there by emissaries from foreign countries, and these animals were kept in Imperial zoos. They feature prominently in Chinese folklore. When they are depicted in art, they rarely resemble real lions, perhaps because the artist had never seen a real one.

In art, when a pair of lions is seen, usually one is male and the other female; the male lion has an ornamental ball under his paw, and the female a lion cub. Here on this Mahjong box we may be seeing two male lions, with one ornamental ball between them. Lion-Guardians have appeared in art since the 3rd Century. In some representations of a lion with a ball, a lion cub is said to be in the embroidered ball, but others say the ball is actually a large pearl being played with by the lion. Here, because there is one ball and two creatures, the viewer can be reminded of the two dragons who often have a pearl between them, frequently seen in Chinese art.

This front panel lifts up to reveal the drawers behind. The brass is especially well detailed; other boxes have brass trim but usually it is plain or with few embellishments. This box was meant to have a prominent place in the home.

The side of this beautiful box has what resembles a flower pot (an image often seen on Mah Jong tiles and boxes)
The side of this beautiful box has what resembles a flower pot but is actually three halberds in a vase, symbolizing a hope for luck in life or on important exams.

This beautiful set was sold at auction in the summer of 2013.

To see more images from this set, click here.

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This set was recently sold at auction. It is deeply carved, and the ratio of bone to bamboo is very high. In Bone and Bamboo sets, the more bone, the more expensive the set. Notice how beautifully carved all the tiles are, and how the carver included creatures in the tile designs. The Bams are leaves, the Dots are mostly peaches, and the Craks are framed with what looks like stylized peaches and bats (symbols of longevity). Elongated peacocks frame the Green Dragon, and phoenixes frame the Red. Interestingly, as in many old sets, the White Dragon is a plain white tile. The East Winds are framed with what is perhaps a fox, and three other birds surround the other Winds. The Flowers appear to show scenes connected with a wedding.

Please copy and paste the following link

www.liveauctioneers.com/item/21587376_chinese-mahjong-set