152 Tiles, Vtg 1930s, Chinese Bakelite Mahjong Set, 152 Hand Carved, Unique Bird


152 Tiles, Vtg 1930s, Chinese Bakelite Mahjong Set, 152 Hand Carved, Unique Bird

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.


Buy Now

152 Tiles, Vtg 1930s, Chinese Bakelite Mahjong Set, 152 Hand Carved, Unique Bird:
$1165.00


Hi, Returns are NOT accepted, please read the description and view the photos carefully. If you need information or would like more photos, please contact me through mail. Thank you for looking!


Shipping price includes insurance. A signature is required for delivery of this set. If you need expedited shipping, that may be possible, please inquire. Vintage 1930s, Chinese Bakelite Mahjong Set, 152 Hand Carved Tiles, Green Wafer Backs, Wonderful Birdy Bams and Very Interesting Flower Tiles. Set Description:. 2 vintage, red Lucite dice (white pips). Measurement: Approximately 11/16 inch square.. 108 vintage ox bone counting sticks. Measurement: Approximately 2 3/8 to 3 3/8 inches. . Vintage hand crafted nailed wood box. This hand crafted box has five trays, four for tiles, the other for accessories. The box is hinged, swing hooks for a closing mechanism. The back of the box is missing a little wood along the bottom edge in two spots, a 2” and a 2.5” area. There are wear marks, scratches from the swinging hooks. Box is solidly constructed. Measurement: Approximately 14 ¼ W x 9 ¾ D x 2 ½ H.

. 152, Circa, 1930s hand carved and painted Chinese Bakelite tiles with green wafers. These tiles are Chinese Bakelite with green casein wafer backs. This set has wonderful birdy bams and two very interesting, continuous scenes, flower bouquets… Including a “head on a platter” tile.

The tiles are in overall nice condition. There are some tiles with flea bites. Eighteen hours of restoration were spent on these tiles to fix very poorly done prior repairs. Some of the wafer backs had been glued on crooked with super glue. These were painstakingly removed and properly fitted. During the cleaning/polishing process some of the wafer backs came loose – these were also carefully fitted properly. There are 3 or 4 tiles with wafer backs that are still slightly crooked. You cannot so much see this but rather feel this. These tiles were cleaned by hand then the wafer backs were polished by hand. The backs look new, they have a mirror finish. Some wafers were replaced. There is a slight variation in color on some of the tile backs. There is also a slight variation in tile height; this is natural to the set. Some of the replaced wafer backs are 1/64 inch smaller in width than the Bakelite. This is something that can be felt more than seen.

Four tiles were made and added along with four blank tiles as jokers. The made tiles are blanks, the extra blank tiles have numbers written on them, most of the ink was removed, but a ghost of the numbers remain. Tiles have expected wear from normal play. There are 148 original tiles to the set. Four blank tiles and the four added tiles have been stickered with Charli’s wonderful “Pagoda” joker stickers. In the photos of the complete tile set, the tiles have been turned over in place. Tile measurement approximately: 1 3/16 x 7/8 x 17/32 inches. Black wafer portion of the tile depth, 3/32 inch.

. Flower translations from my friend, Ray.

These flower tiles are from the Chinese classic novel, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Top row:

This bouquet of tiles show淚斬馬谡, Lei, Zhan, Ma, Su...or Tears, Behead, Ma Su. The relevant chapter title is \"Shedding Tears, Zhuge Liang puts Ma Su to death\". In response to the loss of Jieting, Zhuge Liang reluctantly has themilitary general Ma Su executed by beheading (the same as general as in the top row). Here\'s a lengthy extract from the novel...

\"...Zhuge Liang got angry, saying, “You have filled yourself with the study of the books on war ever since you were a boy; you know them thoroughly. I enjoined upon you that Jieting was most important, and you pledged yourself and all your family to do your best in the enterprise; yet you would not listen to Wang Ping, and thus you caused this misfortune. The army is defeated, generals have been slain and cities and territory lost, all through you. If I do not make you an example and vindicate the law, how shall I maintain a proper state of discipline? You have offended and you must pay the penalty. After your death the little ones of your family shall be my care, and I will see that they get a monthly allowance. Do not let their fate cause you anxiety.”


Zhuge Liang told the executioners to take Ma Su away.

Ma Su wept bitterly, saying, “Pity me, O Minister, you have looked upon me as a son; I have looked up to you as a father. I know my fault is worthy of death, but I pray you remember how King Shun employed Yu, after executing his father. Though I die, I will harbor no resentment down in the depths of the Nine Golden Springs.”

Zhuge Liang brushed aside his tears and said, “We have been as brothers, and your children shall be as my own. It is useless to say more.”

They led the doomed man away. Without the main gate, just as they were going to deal the fatal blow, High Counselor Jiang Wan, who had just arrived from Capital Chengdu, was passing in. He bade the executioners wait a while, and he went in and interceded for Ma Su.

“Formerly the King of Chu put Minister Chen Dechen to death, and his rival Duke Wen of Jin rejoiced. There is great confusion in the land, and yet you would slay a man of admitted ability. Can you not spare him?”

Zhuge Liang\'s tears fell, but he said, “Sun Zi maintains that the one way to obtain success is to make the law supreme. Now confusion and actual war are in every quarter; and if the law be not observed, how may rebels be made away with? He must die.” Soon after they bore in the head of Ma Su as proof, and Zhuge Liang wailed bitterly....\"

Bottomrow:

This bouquet of tilesshow 失守街亭, Shi Shou Jie Ting, or \"Fail to Defend Jieting\".

This refers to the fall of Jieting. General Ma Su fails to take the advice of Zhuge Liang (or Kongmong, the brilliant military strategist) and tried unsuccessfully to defend the city of Jieting from the mountains rather from within the city itself. Here\'s a link to the historical and fictional accounts of this class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 18pt\">
. 152 piece complete tile set


o 36 Dot tiles, 4 each of 1-9
o 36 Bamboo tiles, 4 each of 1-9
o 36 Character (Crack) tiles, 4 each of 1-9
o 16 Wind tiles: 4 each of East, North, West and South
o 12 Dragon tiles: 4 each of White, Red and Green
o 8 Flowers: 2 complete bouquets, 1-4
o 8 Jokers: 4 blank tiles and 4 added blank tiles stickered with CHarli\'s wonderful \"Pagoda\" stickers. *** NOTE: (This information is included on the description for all of my vintage mahjong sets.)

This is a \"Vintage\" mahjong set. It was not manufactured utilizing modern technology with precision controls and exact results. Pieces and parts were in many cases made by hand, up to 90 years ago. There may be some variation in color and/or size as well as manufacturing artifacts or remnants such as surface cracking, scratches or flea bites in the Catalin, Bakelite, resin, Celluloid, Lucite, or other plastics as the material cooled. Chips and flea bites may be a result of materials used as fillers in the plastics or how the set was played with or stored. There may also be variation in the paint colors from suit to suit if the set tiles were painted at different times using different batches of paint.Some tiles are made from more than one type of materials. Some of the pieces of a tile may shrink differently than others and over time the tile components may separate. Game tiles may also separate during normal play. If the pieces separate, a simple tacky, water clean-up, crafter\'s glue will work nicely to reattach the pieces. On rare occasion, pieces may separate during shipping. If the set arrives with separated tiles they can be easily repaired as outlined above. Please get in touch with me and I will work with you to resolve the situation to your 100% satisfaction. Separated tiles are not in and of themselves reason to return a set as the repair is both simple and quick.


The wood, bone and bamboo pieces may not all match perfectly in size, as most were carved, crafted and assembled by hand. This also includes the wooden storage boxes. In an effort to get the product to market quickly, many of the vintage wooden boxes were made with green wood. As the wood dried, it may have split, shrunk or cracked in places. This is what makes the sets vintage and unique and brings the wonderful character and charm that makes mahjong sets so very popular. Vintage sets are unique in that they bear the maker\'s personal touch.Vintage metal will show its age and character. The money holders, case locks and other metal components may have an uneven patina, spots of oxidation or normal use wear associated with age. Additionally, if dissimilar metals were used to make the parts, there will be areas of galvanic corrosion where the two metal types are joined.If you are expecting that all of the pieces match in size and color exactly then you probably do not want a vintage set. Please look carefully at my photographs, read my description carefully, and ask questions before offerding or purchasing. Additional information regarding vintage mahjong sets can be found online. Thank you.***


Photos are part of my description, please see photos for details. Color in photos may vary due to lighting. If you are trying to match color to tiles in another set, please contact me beforehand. Shipping price is only for the US contiguous states.... Shipping price includes insurance. Alaska, Hawaii and International buyers, please inquire regarding shipping charges. All items over $250.00 will require a signature. Payment is expected within 3 days off buying commitment. If you need more time, please arrange with me in advance of buying commitment. Payment: PayPal or check. Item will ship after cleared payment. Please email with any questions you may have.NO RETURNS... Please read the description and view photos carefully. Sold, AS IS. Thank you for looking!


152 Tiles, Vtg 1930s, Chinese Bakelite Mahjong Set, 152 Hand Carved, Unique Bird:
$1165.00

Buy Now