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The Mahjong Line (TML) has done it again! They’ve designed a lovely mahjong tile set that will bring joy to all who play with it. Instead of a completely new approach to tile designs, The Classic Line harkens back to high end Chinese mahjong tiles carved a hundred years ago. TML designers were inspired by many of the images they saw on the vintage sets, but they put their own twists on the design. Even the color palette of the images, numbers and letters is new, as are the color of the tiles themselves.
The Dots are colorful specks that dance across the tile faces, arranging themselves in unexpected positions. Only the one dot, with its plum blossom center, relates to some seen before.
The Soaps leave no doubts as to their dragon family ties.
The Bams, with their brightly colored day-glow, appear hand-carved. The slightly irregular shapes of the bamboo stalks make players think about the carvers in the earliest days of the game. The visual organization of the stalks is unexpected and fun. The colors of the green dragon will leave no doubt as to which suit it belongs to!
The Craks, with the simple form of the Wan, delight with the unusual paint color, also reflected in their dragons.
The Winds remind us of the architectural flower tiles seen on some of the 1920s mahjong tile sets. But here they’re winds, with trees and temples reflecting the direction of the breeze.
The Mahjong Line offers us many scenes that appear at times on flower tiles, with some changes, of course! In the 1920s when mahjong was first making its way onto the international scene, flowers were designed and carved by the best craftsmen in the workshop. These tiles were celebrations of China. Here flowers in vases and baskets, a few accompanied by a bird or a cricket, appear as do bamboo plants. The flowers are all a real treat for players, and a delightful introduction for the uninitiated to see the breadth of images found on vintage sets.
Ladies are seen playing mahjong (the rare old tiles we know of had men playing while women served tea!), standing on a bridge in a garden, and riding in a boats. Rounding out the scenes we see two women sitting indoors, one playing the flute while the other studies a scroll.
The Joker is charming as well. Of course we all want Jokers as they help us win games, but this one is especially meaningful: he’s the three legged frog or toad, used in Feng Shui to draw money and prosperity. So now we players want Jokers even more!
Thank you, The Mahjong Line, for once again beautifying our game life, and adding to the enjoyment we get from playing. This probably means we’ll all be spending a bit more time at the table-not a bad idea at all, right?!
Want to take a deep dive into the history of the art of the game?
Check out MAH JONGG THE ART OF THE GAME by the master mahjonger and art historian. Gregg Swain.
Want to learn Chinese Mahjong?
You're in luck, head over to our post on how to play Chinese Mahjong.
