Beautiful Bamboo-and-Bone Mahjong Set in a Black Lacquer Box With Mother of Pearl

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This is a wonderful 1920s antique mahjong set produced in China for the international market.

It includes 144 tiles + … Read more This is a wonderful 1920s antique mahjong set produced in China for the international market.

It includes 144 tiles + 4 blank spare tiles. It also includes counting sticks, wind bettor, and bone dices.

The mahjong is a traditional dovetailed mahjong made of bone and bamboo. The ration of bamboo and bone is about 1/5 bamboo 4/5 bone, that is, the highest quality.

The box is in good used condition. It is a wonderful example of black lacquered box with mother of pearl inlays. It has some cracks and loss of lacquer in specific locations and some pieces of mother of pearl have been lost in a couple of spots. This is obviously part of the beauty of this 100+ year old antique. It has been conditioned and lined with velvet.

Sets like this were exported from Mainland China to the US and European markets during the 1920s and 1930s during the Inter-War Mahjong Craze. They are testaments to the economic and cultural exchanges between China and Western Countries in the early half of the 20th century. They include beautifully carved tiles with Chinese characters and Arabic numbers and letters to facilitate the mechanics of the game for western players. This is an ideal and unique game for any Mahjong connoisseur and player or anyone interested in Chinese culture. See less