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Chinese Gambling Tokens
Iridescent Beauty With a Sordid Past
Chinese craftsmen are renowned for their intricate work in jade, ivory, and wood, with examples of their art dating back centuries.
During the 1700s and 1800s Chinese artifacts found their way to Europe as supercargo, bought by ships’ captains as part of their personal allowance.
Some of the lesser-known artifacts were gambling tokens created out of mother-of-pearl from oysters. These were often made to order to match Chinese dinner sets for wealthy families.
While gambling was a popular pastime in China, gambling for money was illegal in Great Britain, and thus for the British when they ruled Hong Kong. Gambling tokens became popular among the British elite.
The creation of these works of art was part of a darker story that few know about to this day.
Cyndy Green has been intrigued by news since she got a toy printing press as a six year old. She switched to visual story telling at the age of 12 with her first still camera and moved to broadcasting after an internship in 1974. After 28 years in broadcast news and another 8 teaching broadcasting, she still can’t live without a camera in hand and an editing computer nearby, so in retirement she continues creating visual stories.
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