Antique Chinese Mahjong Set in Carved Dragon-Motif Wood Case, Early 20th Century

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A complete traveling mahjong set housed in a hand-carved wood case, likely made in China for export during the early … Read more A complete traveling mahjong set housed in a hand-carved wood case, likely made in China for export during the early 20th-century mahjong craze that swept the West in the 1920s. The lid is carved in high relief with a pair of confronting stylized bird heads — reading as phoenixes, with hooked beaks and feathered, layered texturing — flanking a pierced arched carrying handle, the crest bordered by a fine diamond-lattice pattern. The case front is carved with a recessed reserve depicting two robed figures in a garden setting beneath a stylized floral trellis, framed by geometric key-fret and triangular banding, with the same diaper-pattern molding continuing around the case sides. Inside, a fitted wooden tray divides the tiles by suit for storage. The set includes the full run of bamboo, circle/dot, and character suits, along with wind and dragon tiles, a red "Big Joker" tile (indicating the set was adapted for, or later used with, American Mah Jongg League rules), and a set of pictorial flower and season tiles hand-painted with birds, blossoms, and landscape motifs. Blank spare tiles are included as well. The tiles appear to be bone-faced over a bamboo backing, with hand-tinted red and black pips — a construction typical of the period, though this is worth confirming before listing. Accessories include a set of eight dice in cream and blue, a cylindrical bone-and-metal dice shaker retaining a partial paper label, a small run of bamboo/bone scoring sticks marked with pip counts for traditional score-keeping, a group of round bone counters hand-painted with Chinese characters in green and red, a bone ring, and a small vintage tin canister bearing an old promotional paper label See less