Grace Wu: The MQJ Collection Special Exhibition

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Christie’s proudly announces its first collaboration with the “Queen of Huanghuali”, Grace Wu — the preeminent connoisseur of Ming furniture. “The MQJ Collection Special Exhibition” will be presented at The Henderson, Christie’s new Asia Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong, in October 2024. The groundbreaking event will feature close to 30 pieces of the finest classical Ming furniture from the collection, including the extremely rare late Ming Huanghuali Alcove Bed. Grace Wu’s latest publication, Three Decades of Ming Furniture, will also be launched during this historic occasion.

Crowned the “Queen of Huanghuali” by collectors, Grace Wu is the world’s leading expert and collector of Ming furniture. She is also the most esteemed international dealer dedicated to this field. Grace began her collecting journey in the 1970s and established the prestigious Grace Wu Bruce Gallery in 1987. In addition to orchestrating exhibitions across the world, including New York, London, Maastricht in the Netherlands, and Basel in Switzerland, further underscoring her profound global influence in this field, she was the first person to mastermind landmark exhibitions on the subject at the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Guimet Museum in Paris.

Dedicated to promoting Ming furniture to the world, Grace Wu delved into studying the history of classical Chinese furniture, expanding her collection, and then publishing her findings. Her latest publication,Three Decades of Ming Furniture,will be launched at Christie’s new Asia Pacific headquarters at The Henderson in Hong Kong in mid-October, and then in Beijing and Shanghai.

With its breadth and depth of information, Three Decades of Ming Furniture is the most significant publication in the field since Classic Chinese Furniture was published in 1985 by Wang Shixiang, an authority on Chinese culture and a legendary collector. This book shares stirring stories and exciting new discoveries in the world of classical Ming furniture, and follows on from Grace Wu’s earlier publications, Two Decades of Ming Furniture and Ming Furniture Through My Eyes. The new book introduces nearly all categories of Ming furniture, but especially focuses on rare huanghuali pieces, discovered and handled by the author in the past 30 years. It not only analyses the unique structures and materials, but also concentrates on the social context and construction of each masterpiece. Readers will also be riveted to find many fascinating stories from Grace Wu’s personal collecting journey.

Grace Wu’s MQJ Collection comprises more than 100 masterpieces and was inspired by Wang Shixiang, who chose the Chinese name of MQJ, “Muquju”, and created the calligraphy for the name. Assembled over 30 years, the MQJ Collection spans across almost all categories of Ming furniture, including many unique and important examples, and is unrivalled in quality and rarity.