Bone and bamboo
The classic Chinese set has a face of polished bone joined to a back of bamboo with a dovetail joint. Characters and symbols were hand-carved or engraved into the bone and filled with coloured paint. These sets were produced in great numbers in the early twentieth century, many for export during the 1920s mahjong craze in the United States and Britain.
Bone-and-bamboo tiles are light, warm in the hand and make a distinctive soft clack. Collectors look for crisp carving, matching colour across the set and an intact dovetail joint.
Ivory
A small number of luxury sets used ivory, sometimes backed with bamboo or ebony. They were always expensive and are now subject to strict ivory trade laws in many countries; buying or selling them may be illegal. Most "ivory-coloured" sets are in fact bone, celluloid or plastic.
If you inherit an old set and are unsure what it is made of, a specialist appraiser can tell bone (which shows tiny dark pores) from ivory (which shows a cross-hatched grain) and plastics (which are uniform).
Celluloid and Bakelite
As demand boomed in the 1920s, manufacturers turned to early plastics. Celluloid sets appeared first; later, cast phenolic resins often sold as Bakelite or catalin became popular in the 1930s and 1940s, especially in the United States, in butterscotch, green and red colours. These sets are heavy and satisfying, and they are now highly collectable.
Collectors prize sets with original boxes, racks and matched counters. Because plastics can crack or discolour, condition makes a large difference to value.
Modern tiles
Today most sets are made of melamine, acrylic or polyester resin, which are durable, inexpensive and easy to decorate. Japanese automatic tables use tiles with metal cores so magnets can sort them. Recent years have also seen a boom in boutique designer sets with pastel colours, original artwork and custom jokers, especially in the United States.
Material affects play only a little, but size and weight matter. Large tiles are easier to read; very light tiles can be knocked over. Choose what suits your table.
