pigments

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Archived from groups: rec.games.mahjong (More info?)

What type of pigments were typically used for the colouring of
Mah-Jong tiles?

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.mahjong (More info?)

Julian Bradfield <jcb@inf.ed.ac.uk> wrote in message news:<e6cllglaj6x.fsf@palau.inf.ed.ac.uk>...
> What type of pigments were typically used for the colouring of
> Mah-Jong tiles?

Hello Julian. I have examined my collection of old sets and the
pigments are definitely water soluble. I have also retouched some
tiles that had lost their colour. From this experience, since bone is
porous, then the pigments would have had to be very fast drying to
prevent 'bleeding' into the surrounding bone. On the sets from the
20's and 30's, it appears the pigments were some type of thick paint
with a 'waxy' texture.

However, sets from the 50's appear to have some type of ink or a very
thin paint mixture. Interestingly, on bakelite sets from the 30's, the
paint had a tendency to fall out of the engraving, probably due to the
poor adhesive properties of the plastic and paint.

I have some literature on the manufacture of tile sets in Shanghai in
the 20's(from the Mai Ren company) and that mentions the painting
process(done by child labour). I'll check it out to see if it mentions
anything about the properties of the pigments.

Cheers
Michael Stanwick