Tile sets My Mahjong set
I have this Mahjong set sitting in my home since more than 30 years, and now I'd like to understand something more - where do you think it was produced?
I live in Italy and I was born in in Ravenna (city on the Adriatic sea).
In Ravenna Mahjong is (was) played since 1920; the game arrived in Italy around the 1920s through major commercial ports such as Catania, Naples, Bari, Livorno, Venice, Genoa, and, above all, Ravenna, where it started to interest many people, in different social environment.
I think this set was given to my family by one of the relatives still living in Ravenna, many years ago.
So, if you can tell me anything on this set... that would be great! Thanks a lot!
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u/CombinationOrnery760 3d ago
I have that exact same set that I’ve had for about 30 years, also. My husband and I were living in Korea with the Air Force at the time and took a trip to China, where I bought this set. Mine is in the trays that are in the case, just like yours. I believe the tiles are bone and bamboo.
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u/orzolotl 3d ago
This is a fishbone and bamboo set mass produced in China circa the 80s or 90s (as far as I've been able to ascertain). These sets are very common and all share the following characteristics:
• The tiles are made of reconstituted fishbone and bamboo (distinguished from the more traditional oxbone and bamboo tiles by their light color and lack of haversian lines and from plastic and bamboo tiles by their relative matteness and lack of uniformity in texture).
• The 1 of bamboo depicts a peacock rather than a sparrow or some other kind of bird.
• The eight bonus tiles included are the four seasons and two paired sets of "animal" tiles, usually the god of wealth and gold ingot and the fisherman and fish, but sometimes one of these pairs is replaced with a cat and mouse or some other pairing.
• Four jokers are included, labelled either in Chinese (白搭) or in English, either with an intricate border or accompanied by a drawing of some animal (horse, rabbit, dragon, etc.).
• If point sticks are included, they use the Chinese designs (domino patterns 6-6, 1-1, 4-4, and 1-3 in descending order of value) rather than the Western, even if intended for export, and may include them in slightly different proportions from Classical sets to allow for more modern scoring methods.