A remarkable collection of Chinese Ming Dynasty furniture will be offered in Hong Kong this April, as part of the Christie’s Chinese Works of Art Spring Sale series
In total the collection comprises eight pieces of furniture and ten table-top pieces, all acquired from the renowned dealer Grace Wu Bruce, known as "the Queen of Huanghuali" for her expertise.
The majority of pieces in the collection have been widely published, with each an outstanding, "museum quality" example of its kind.
"Following the phenomenal success of Dr Yip’s magnificent furniture offered last year, Sotheby’s is delighted to be entrusted with yet another outstanding collection,” said Kevin Ching, Chief Executive Officer, Sotheby’s Asia.
"Rare and high-quality Ming furniture has long been an important and refined collecting category for sophisticated collectors. The owner of this private collection studied fine arts in his youth and his taste and standard were extremely high."
Back in October 2015 the Dr Yip Collection of Ming furniture was 100% sold, with 90% of all lots exceeding their top estimates on the way to a total of $33 million (HK$260 million). Sotheby’s will be hoping for similar results when the current collection crosses the auction block on April 6.
Amongst the furniture highlights will be an extremely rare Late Ming Huanghuali couch bed, known as luohan chuang, preserved in superb condition; a sloping-stile Huanghuali wood-hinged cabinet described as a "true masterpiece of Chinese cabinet making"; a rare high yoke-back Huanghuali wood armchair; and a pair of large horseshoe Huanghuali wood armchairs.
Amongst the decorative table-top highlights are a miniature Huanghuali wood Qiaotouan table and a small, highly figured and reinforced Huanghuali wood box.
The Chinese Works of Art Spring Sale series takes place at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on April 2-6.
