Exhibition to put spotlight on the beauty of Ming-era furniture
Grace Wu Bruce is known to people who love classic Chinese furniture as a prominent dealer in the field, and she is often hailed as the “queen of huanghuali” (a highly sought-after wood used in Chinese furniture).
She has for the past three decades cemented her image through running Jia Mu Tang, a gallery in Hong Kong that sells furniture from the 16th and 17th centuries — the pinnacle of Ming-style design.
Bruce has assembled a private collection where she has the most representative types of Ming furniture. And, for the first time, she will unveil the collection at a public exhibition from Sept 29-0ct 2 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre during Sotheby’s major autumn auctions.
The exhibition will showcase some 100 pieces of furniture mostly made of huanghuali and zitan (also a rare wood used in Chinese furniture). The pieces fall in 11 categories, including desks, chairs, beds and incense stands, which Bruce says cover almost all the major styles of Ming furniture that have been found so far.
The title of her collection is Mu Qu Ju (lodge of wood delights), a name given by the internationallyknown late connoisseur of Chinese art, Wang Shixiang. Wang also gave her the gallery’s name Jia Mu Tang, meaning hall of beautiful wood.
Wang, remembered as the “father of classic Chinese furniture”, shed light on the subject through his book, Classic Chinese Furniture in 1985 — considered a bible in the field.
Wang provided Bruce with a lot of expertise on Ming furniture. She says it was Wang who inspired her to build the Mu Qu Ju collection.
Bruce says the publication of Wang’s work gave a boost to the collection of vintage Chinese furniture, but Wang regretted that there was not a comprehensive, systematic collection of the subject.
“The collection of Ming furniture is not a focus for museums when compared with bronze ware, classic Chinese paintings and calligraphy and porcelain,” she says.
Bruce says Mu Qu Ju is an extension of Wang’s academic legacy, and she hopes that more people will enjoy and study Ming furniture.
She says that the exhibition is a rare opportunity for Hong Kong people to see so many pieces of Ming furniture.
“When people see it from close then they will feel the simple ele- gance in design and craftsmanship that Ming furniture is known for.
“It will also allow them to discover the sophistication of details.”
She says the best way for a collector to enjoy classic furniture is to live with it, but the reason an object is included in the Mu Qu Ju collection is not simply based on whether it is fit for daily use.
She says by sharing her collection at the upcoming exhibition, she can show more people the beauty of classic Chinese furniture. With every piece on show people can feel the joy that the furniture brought its owners.
More importantly, she hopes that more researchers will study Ming furniture in the future.
“My collection is still expanding. And so will the knowledge of mime and people. When Wang came to Hong Kong in the early 1990s to see my collection, he said he had not seen many of the pieces before.”
Meanwhile, The Best of the Best: The MQJ Collection of Ming Furniture, a book cataloging each item in the collection, will be launched at the exhibition.