Featured Mahjong

They sell well, if you can find the right buyers. I picked one up for $5.00 and sold it for nearly $300.

 

Didn't have such a good ROI yet ... And definitely not after Ebay fee and tax deductions

 

I found ANOTHER mahjong set at the flea-market yesterday!!

It's from the 1920s. Nice, thick, chonky bone tile-fronts.



The set is all-complete, however you may notice that some tiles are very faded, while others are still quite bright and colourful.

This is because of historical water damage. In the 1920s, when this set was made, it was one of MILLIONS being churned out, boxed out, and shipped out of Shanghai to the United States, Canada, and Europe, where mahjong was taking off in a HUGE way at the time.

Because they were produced in such huge numbers, and because every single set was handmade to such a high level of detail, and because demand was so high...manufacturers were want to cut corners where and however they could.

One of the main ways they did this was with the paint.

See, higher quality paints would last longer, but they cost more money. Cheap paint is just as good, and you can do more tile-sets with it. So they went with cheap paint.

The problem with the cheap paint is that it's WATER SOLUBLE. If you spilled a glass of water over it - the paint runs like makeup!

That's what's happened here. So I'll need to clean the tiles up, and repaint them (or some of them, anyway). Fortunately it's not difficult, and I already have all the necessary things that I need to do it.




This is the box that I ended up putting the tiles into. The storage solution that came with the set is not ideal (and it's falling to pieces!!), so I'm transferring it into this nice rosewood box I have. Once I've fixed it up and made it habitable, it will be the set's full-time residence.

As you can see, the box is perfectly sized to fit the tiles, with each suit fitting one on top of the other precisely!! Couldn't get luckier than that!

 

Repainting antique mahjong tiles will give you a seriously crook neck...

 

...but the results are worth it!...



Compared with when I started:

 

https://www.catawiki.com/en/l/92990651

 

As I mentioned a few times before on this thread, one of the biggest pains in the ass when it comes to antique mahjong sets, are the cases or boxes used to store them in.

Only the highest quality sets were ever housed in anything approaching a solid, long-lasting case. Some of them can be extremely attractive, and very well-built.

But for the vast majority of antique sets, they were simply thrown into simple cardboard, or cheap wooden boxes or cases. These dry out, split, crack, break apart, get damp, get moldy, get rusty...I've literally seen antique mahjong sets stored inside old tin lunchboxes!

When the old cases and boxes crumble into dust, finding a new home for your set of 144-odd antique tiles can be a real challenge. But sometimes...just sometimes...you can get incredibly lucky.



These two antique sets (one from the 50s, one from the 20s!!) both came in flimsy cardboard and wooden cases which were falling apart.

By sheer chance, I had these two gutted-out old rosewood boxes, which are the *perfect* size to fit these sets into. Can't get luckier than that!

 

All this brings back memories of Mom playing with her friends......
That clackity clack of the bakelite tiles being mixed on the table.

 

This one arrived yesterday

 

What a lovely set!

Here's my latest score, from the flea-market yesterday. I spent yesterday, and today, restoring the wooden slide-top box that it came with.

BEFORE:





AND AFTER:





And here's the set:



The set didn't have any dice when I bought it, but fortunately I had a nice pair of bone ones lying around that I added into it.

As you can see, the original finish on the box was in terrible condition, so I sanded it all down and re-shellacked it - very pleased with the results!

The edging of the box also had some deep gouge-marks in it, as you can probably see. I was able to reduce, but sadly, not remove, the worst of them, so at least it looks a little better in that respect.

 

Thanks!
And a new set will arrive tomorrow. that one will have horses as joker tiles.

Cool set. Never seen such images on the bamboos tiles. And great restoration work

 

According to a fellow collector, the set is probably from the area in or around Peking, going by the style of the carving. I love it. It's from about 1930.

 

And here's my latest addi(c)tion

 

This is a great collection. Is it made of bamboo? I'm not sure, but it can definitely be traced back to the late Qing Dynasty in China 200 years ago.

 

This last one is bone and bamboo, but in this thread you will also find a few bakelite sets

 

According to reliable research, mahjong dates back to the city of Ningpo ca. 1840-1850, at least in its current form. Games similar to MJ have existed for centuries, though.

 

STOP ME!! STOP ME BEFORE I SHOP AGAIN!!!

I sold two sets out of my collection, and used some of the money to buy this...



It's a Japanese set (no flowers) from the 1920s.

 

Nice!