Complete Chinese Export Mahjong Set 5 Drawer Cabinet Case with 148 Bone & Bamboo Tiles, 1920s

Beautiful example of a 1920s export set of Mahjong tiles made of bone and bamboo in a dove-tailed wooden box with brass mounts and carrying handles, sliding lid to the front with Chinese characters.

The set comprises 36 circle tiles, 36 bamboo tiles, 36 character tiles and 36 honour tiles. The honour tiles are made up of 16 winds (N, S, E, W), 4 Red Dragons, 4 Green Dragons, 4 White Dragons (i.e. blank) and 8 bonus seasons tiles (red series and green series). In the bottom of the five drawers are bone scoring sticks, four spare tiles, four miniature bone dice (in a wooden box with a sliding lid) and a ‘Ming’ box with four wind discs.

The set is in very good condition but there is some minor damage to the box (see picture).

The earliest surviving mahjong sets date to the 1870s when the game was largely confined to Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Jiangsu. The game was first popularized in the UK around 1923, mirroring a broader craze in the Western world with popularity peaking in the 1930s.