Qajar game

[Dunn-Vaturi, Anne Elizabeth]

Dear All,

A Met colleague shared this photo of a 19^th century game that consists of 34 (33 only on the photo) bone sticks with black and red dots housed in a small painted lacquer box.

Is it familiar to anyone?

Thank you in advance for your help, and best wishes for the summer,

Anne

 

 

 

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Anne Dunn-Vaturi (she/her)
Senior Provenance Researcher
Ancient West Asian Art
212 650 2161

The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028
@metmuseum
metmuseum.org

 

[Jacob Schmidt-Madsen]

Hi Anne,

They look like Mah Jong scoring sticks to me. The different configurations of dots map to different numbers of points that can help players keep track of their score in the game.

Best regards,

Jacob

[Dunn-Vaturi, Anne Elizabeth]

Thanks a lot, Jacob!

Anne

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From: bgs4...@googlegroups.com <bgs4...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Jacob Schmidt-Madsen <accidenta...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 8, 2025 6:37:14 PM
To: bgs4ever <bgs4...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [External] - Re: Qajar game

 

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[Malcolm J Watkins]

Mah jongg gambling sticks? I think they are used as tokens, and often come in greater numbers.

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[Thierry Depaulis]

Hello Anne.

Yes, these sticks are typically mahjong scoring sticks (see attachment from a 1923 book).

The set is clearly incomplete. And it is impossible to determine whether they belong to the A (older) type or to the B type…

The two Qajar boxes have nothing to do with the sticks.

Their size would not even allow them to contain the sticks: they are a completely different kind of objects.

Greetings!

Thierry

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[Dunn-Vaturi, Anne Elizabeth]

Hello,

Thank you very much, Malcolm and Thierry. 

The sticks were in the box whose lid is on the left side. 

Greetings!

Anne

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From: bgs4...@googlegroups.com <bgs4...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Thierry Depaulis <thierry....@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 9, 2025 4:26 AM
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Subject: [External] - Re: Qajar game

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[Víktor Bautista i Roca]

As other has said those are betting sticks for mah jong. 

Here you can see a mah jong I have, bought in China in 1998, tiles are bone and bamboo, dice and sticks are cheap plastic. 

Salut!

Víktor Bautista i Roca.

@viktorbir

El dc., 9 de jul. 2025, 10:26, Thierry Depaulis <thierry....@gmail.com> va escriure:

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[J.G.C. van de Riet]

LS,

As a former mah-yonggh addict (from the time the name was spelt in fancy ways), I can only confirm Jacob's and Thierry's statements: these are ma-jong counting sticks. Be it of the pre-Hongkong-style era, when thin, coloured, plastic discs replaced them, and the entire system of counting a win, namely by introducing faans and laaks  (doublings and limits) reducing the chance of losing a fortune on a losing hand (cheung) in one go. I used to own a full set of this old-time style, a "ladies' game", namely of smallish ivory+bamboo tiles, with a drawer full of these bone sticks, virtually the same as those in Anne Elizabeth's picture. I could ask the present owner for a picture, but antiquity shops, especially in the UK and The Hague, should still have a small stock of them. 

Greetings, and do learn the 'New" Hongkong style, male version; it is the best, smoothest, and most social game ever invented if gambling is restricted to this bone or plastic money. Chris

Op wo 9 jul 2025 om 17:35 schreef Víktor Bautista i Roca <vikt...@gmail.com>:

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[J.G.C. van de Riet]

Remains the question, how did a set of ma-jong scoring sticks in a non-related box acquire the name "Qajar game"?

Op wo 9 jul 2025 om 20:38 schreef J.G.C. van de Riet <jgcvan...@gmail.com>:

[Dunn-Vaturi, Anne Elizabeth]

The initial interest in the Qajar box outweighed the attribution, but I can assure you that my colleague is delighted to know what the sticks are thanks to your expertise. I was more familiar with the mah jong tiles than the counting sticks so I also learn something 🙂

Thanks again to all of you for your answers!!!

Anne

 

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Subject: [External] - Re: Qajar game

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