VMJ-120
144 tiles, Republican, hand-carved, complete set in wooden box with missing sliding top, with lovely patina; note the simplicity of the carving of the bamboo tiles, the bird tile and the picture tiles. Historians say that mahjong tiles were usually carved by young men and this is suggested here with the naiveté of execution. The prominent Haversian system (black lines and dots in the bone) confirms this set is not made of ivory and the colour suggests it was made with Chinese, rather than imported American, bone.
144 tiles, Republican, hand-carved, complete set in wooden box with missing sliding top, with lovely patina; note the simplicity of the carving of the bamboo tiles, the bird tile and the picture tiles. Historians say that mahjong tiles were usually carved by young men and this is suggested here with the naiveté of execution. The prominent Haversian system (black lines and dots in the bone) confirms this set is not made of ivory and the colour suggests it was made with Chinese, rather than imported American, bone.
144 tiles, Republican, hand-carved, complete set in wooden box with missing sliding top, with lovely patina; note the simplicity of the carving of the bamboo tiles, the bird tile and the picture tiles. Historians say that mahjong tiles were usually carved by young men and this is suggested here with the naiveté of execution. The prominent Haversian system (black lines and dots in the bone) confirms this set is not made of ivory and the colour suggests it was made with Chinese, rather than imported American, bone.