Tag Archives: Mahjong

The Orchid in Chinese Art and Mahjong Part 1

Kuan Yin • April 21, 2014

In China the orchid is traditionally associated with spring. The polar vortex has left our area, after what seemed to most of us to be a very long stay, so it is time to celebrate. And how better than to look at orchids, some created by nature and others brought to us by artists. We will look at Mahjong tiles with this pairing, and a photograph of some real beauties on display in the Bronx.

The above ink work is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was painted by Ma Shouzhen during the Ming Dynasty. Here is an orchid; a few of the delicate blooms have fallen to the ground, but some remain intact. As we have seen in some other posts, the artist has chosen to position the plant next to a rock, a very common theme in Chinese art.

In China the orchid represents delicacy and elegance. Patricia Bjaaland Welch, in her book Chinese Art A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery

"They are specifically associated with women, love beauty and fertility; and secondly with virtue, moral elegance" and the refinement of a superior man who stands out in a crowd because of being a learned gentleman.

Rocks were often prized as objects of beauty, and we know they are objects of permanence. And so the rock with the orchid might be a play upon visual beauty, some of which is short lived and some permanent throughout time.

Above we have a version of paired Mahjong flowers. The hand carved bone and bamboo tile flower on the left is the orchid, with a rock just below the edge of the pot. Of course a rock appears in the other half of the diptych as well.

Above a vase, holding a hand carved Mahjong tile orchid, has a rock right next to it. Again, it seems like some of the blossoms may have fallen, thus alluding to the impermanence of some kinds of beauty.

Although not hand carved, these tiles by Imperial feature a vase of orchids and the rock beside them.

Above is a photo from a set by Selfridge's, with a paper face showing the orchid in a vase with a rock in a pot right behind. Clearly the pairing of the two was important enough to feature on all tiles of Mahjong tiles.

And we'll end with a photo of some other stars of the orchid show at the Bronx Botanical Garden, these exquisite pink orchids. There is no indication of nearby rocks, but, then again, this show is not Chinese art, but rather a celebration of the beauty of orchids. Given that the show ends today, it is another indication of the need to appreciate etherial beauty when we have a chance.

Five Bats: The Five Blessings

Kuan Yin • March 25, 2014

Five Bats are considered to be very lucky in Chinese art. They symbolize the five blessings: health, wealth, longevity, virtue, and dying a natural death.

The five bats theme occurs over and over in Chinese art, on some beautiful vases and porcelains, on royal robes, screens, and, of course, mahjong sets!

Here are images of some fivesomes.

This work of art was auctioned off during Asia Week in NYC at Sotheby's.

The center of the above dish is a design with three stylized lotus blooms surrounding a central lotus, encircled by five bats and scrolls.

Above is a snuff bottle recently seen at Asia Week. Notice the five bats encircling the neck of the bottle.

The dish below was also auctioned off at Sothebys. It is very rare, with five bats surrounding the stylized Shou in the center. Although hard to see on the "cavetto" (the part of the plate surrounding the center flat part) has three phoenixes.

These five bats also appear on mahjong sets. Following is a closeup of one of the drawer pulls, and a photograph of all the drawers. Are the facts that there are five drawers with five bats a coincidence? I think not! The five bats symbolize five blessings for the owner.

Above is a close-up of one bat pull, and below the five pulls on the box:

Below is a blurry photo of a simpler type of bat pull, also on five drawers.

The top of the above ebonized box has five stylized bats surrounding the top piece, what may be another bat.

And here they surround the central Shou on the front panel of the box.

This is a story of some very lucky and oblivious owners of a bat vase; although it is not about five bats, it is worth a read.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/443251/Old-Chinese-vase-found-on-chest-of-drawers-of-oblivious-owners-sells-for-3m

Arkmel set • 2 Comments

Kuan Yin • February 6, 2014

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!

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.

Tan and Black tiles

Kuan Yin • February 2, 2014

These two tone Mahjong tiles have faces in an unusual color. In this photograph it does look as if there is an attempt at French Ivory, but this is not apparent on the tiles themselves. The set includes two runs of identical Flowers, thus 16 Flowers in all. The top set of Flowers are the Beauties, and the symbols are seasons, starting with spring. The lower set are the four professions: fisherman, woodcutter, farmer and scholar. The Red and Green Dragons are Chinese characters, and the White is the frame. It is not known if the red paint was original to the tiles, but it is not found on the other White Dragons.

Please note the wonderful huge fish the fisherman has in his hands.

Images on Flowers in other forms of art

Kuan Yin • February 1, 2014

These Flowers come from a lovely, though strangely colored Mahjong set. We don't know if the set was intended to be this color or if the color changed over time. The backs of the tiles are black, and there is no wafer back.

We have seen many of these ladies before, and these images were very familiar to the artists in China and the people buying the sets.

Once again, a beautiful porcelain piece offered by Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Ltd, on display at the Winter Antiques Show.

Here both ladies hold fans. We also see the wall in the background, as we so often see on Flower tiles.

To see more treasures from the Ralph M. Chait collection, click here

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.

Goldfish mother-of-pearl box

Kuan Yin • January 12, 2014

This inlaid mother-of-pearl box sold at Clars Auction Gallery. Its set is missing, but hopefully the box will house another wonderful set some day.

You can see here a goldfish, birds, and plants on the front panel. According to Patricia Bjaaland Welch in Chinese Art, goldfish is symbolic of material success in China because the its name is a homophone of the Chinese words for gold and jade. (Many objects and creatures are symbolic because of their homophones).The goldfish has fabulous details on his body and his wonderful tail. Surrounding this scene is a meander, an abstract design named after the very winding river Meander in Turkey. Abstract designs such as these figure prominently in Mahjong.

This side panel features the familiar bird standing on a rock, a bird in flight and a butterfly, and a peony on the left.

Two abstract versions of longevity can be seen as parts of the central meander. A plum blossom (five petals) is center bottom.

The top of the box features flying birds and plum blossoms in the center. What might be two pomegranates, a symbols of fertility because of all the seeds they contain, are on the left.

Mahjong Treasures

Appreciating the Art of Mahjong; A Collector's Guide