In recent years, classic Chinese furniture has seen a remarkable resurgence at auction – propelled in part by Christie’s, which has brought major collections from renowned connoisseurs to market with resounding success. This spring in Hong Kong, another distinguished name joined that roster: Mimi Wong.
On 2 May, 13 pieces from Wong’s esteemed collection of classic huanghuali wood furniture were offered in the Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Sale at Christie’s Hong Kong. Eleven of the lots found new homes, collectively realising HK$69.3 million (US$8.8 million).
Two standout 17th-century pieces – a rare single plank-top pedestal table and a continuous horseshoe-back reclining armchair with folding leg-rests – far exceeded expectations. The pieces achieved HK$33 million and HK$14.9 million, respectively, making them the top-selling and third-highest lots of the 131-lot auction.
Lot 959 | A magnificent huanghuali single plank-top pedestal table, jiaji'an | Furniture from the Collection of Mimi Wong
17th century
82.5 x 306 x 52 cm
Pank-top: 7 cm thick
Estimate: HK$7,000,000 - 10,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$27,000,000
Sold: HK$33,045,000
Bidding for the pedestal table opened at HK$5.5 million and quickly escalated. Competing bidders included several in the room, as well as three staff from Christie’s Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Department – Chi-Fan Tsang (International Director, Hong Kong), Felix Pei (Senior Specialist, Beijing), and Harriet Yu (Associate Specialist, Shanghai) – each representing clients via phone.
Once bidding passed HK$13 million, Pei’s client stepped back. From HK$23.5 million onward, the contest narrowed to Tsang and Yu. After 47 total bids, auctioneer Carmen Shek Cerne brought the gavel down at HK$27 million, with Tsang securing the lot for her client, paddle 8324. Including buyer’s premium, the final price was HK$33 million (US$4.2 million).
Mimi Wong was born into a family of intellectuals in Shanghai. Her great-grandfather, Wang Yiting (Wang Zhen, 1867–1938), was a celebrated painter, calligrapher, business leader, and prominent Buddhist layman of the late Qing and early Republican era. After graduating from Purdue University in the United States, she returned to Hong Kong, where she built a successful career in business.
In the 1980s – just as Chinese classical furniture collecting entered a golden era – Wong began acquiring pieces to furnish her home. Drawn to the graceful lines and harmonious proportions of Ming furniture, she quickly became a passionate and knowledgeable collector. For her, collecting was never impulsive: research and contemplation are essential to avoid regret.
Unlike collectors who warehouse their pieces, Wong lived with hers. In selecting and arranging her furniture, Mimi adheres to principles of versatility, timelessness, and practicality.
Her home is a carefully composed symphony of classical Chinese furniture: huanghuali cabinets, table, and bed decorate her serene bedroom; a pedestal table, side table, stools, and an elegant official’s hat chair are artfully arranged throughout her living spaces. A statue on the Buddhist shrine quietly adds a sense of calm and contemplation. Even her offices are furnished with centuries-old Chinese furniture, bridging past and present in daily life.
Mimi with Robert Ellsworth during the book launch in 2005
“I wanted pieces that would stand the test of time,” Wong reflected on her early collecting journey. At the time, authoritative resources were scarce, and the field was led by experts such as Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, the famous American collector, scholar, and dealer of Asian art.
In the early 1990s, a mutual friend introduced Wong to Ellsworth, sparking a lifelong friendship. When he first saw her collection, he immediately proposed writing a catalogue. Ellsworth visited Hong Kong twice yearly thereafter, advising on acquisitions and sharing insights.
Their collaboration culminated in the publication of Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection in 1996, with a second volume of 100 additional examples published in 2005.
Two years after the first book, 44 exceptional pieces from Wong's collection were featured in the exhibition Essence of Style: Chinese Furniture of the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. With Ellsworth’s curatorial guidance, the exhibition highlighted the technical and aesthetic benchmarks of Chinese classical furniture – establishing Wong’s collection as one of international significance.
The present lot featured in Chinese Furniture: One Hundred Examples from the Mimi and Raymond Hung Collection, 2005
A centerpiece of the collection, the 17th-century plank-top pedestal table is constructed from a 7 cm-thick single plank resting on two pedestals, each fitted with a flat drawer and hoof-feet legs. The design is minimalist – crisp lines, sharp corners, and no extraneous ornamentation – hallmarks of the refined Ming aesthetic.
Complete, original huanghuali plank-top pedestal tables are exceedingly rare. Historically, these tables often became separated from their bases, disassembled during relocations, or shortened for convenience. The thick, high-quality wood was frequently repurposed for other furniture, contributing to their scarcity.
Among collectors, a fully intact table of this kind is affectionately known as “a piece of jade” in Chinese – a metaphor for its purity, rarity, and unaltered beauty. Notably, the only classical Chinese furniture ever to surpass HK$100 million at auction was a monumental huanghuali plank-top pedestal altar table.
The massive size of the current plank suggests that it would have been immensely costly even at the time of manufacture, and likely a highly prized possession of a wealthy scholar or official.
Lot 960 | An extremely rare huanghuali continuous horseshoe-back reclining armchair | Furniture from the Collection of Mimi Wong
17th century
122 x 70 x 121.3 cm
Estimate: HK$1,200,000 - 2,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$12,000,000
Sold: HK$14,895,000
Distinguished by its ingenious engineering and distinctive form, this reclining armchair appears to be unique, with no other known example of its kind. The piece generated intense attention at the auction: estimated at HK$1.2 million, it hammered for HK$12 million – ten times its estimate – and realized nearly HK$14.9 million (US$1.9 million) with fees, going to a room bidder with paddle 267.
Given the sophistication of its construction, the chair was almost certainly a custom commission for a highly discerning patron. Designed for reclining comfort, the structure includes a seat extension that supports the legs and folds away neatly to reveal an inbuilt footrest, which itself retracts beneath the seat when not in use.
The chair's form features a number of unusual and refined details. Most striking is the splat, which curves beyond the horseshoe-shaped back rail into a strong scroll – a motif commonly found in Qing lacquer armchairs, but rarely seen in hardwood furniture. On the inner curve of this scroll, two exquisitely carved dragons coil back on themselves in a manner reminiscent of the scrolled tendrils on the arms of the famous zitan armchair pair in the Beijing Palace Museum, Beijing.
Further ingenuity is seen in the fully retractable footrest. Its slightly splayed, round-section legs echo the profile of the chair’s main supports. Between them, a lattice design – evocative of low garden balustrades or tied bamboo edging – adds both visual lightness and structural strength. This design enables the footrest to support the folding seat extension, attached by tenons at the end of each leg.
Other Highlight Lots from Mimi Wong's Chinese Furniture Collection:
Lot 963 | A rare pair of huanghuali and burlwood ‘fu’ character yokeback armchairs, sichutouguanmaoyi | Furniture from the Collection of Mimi Wong
16th-17th century
117.5 x 64 x 48.5 cm
Estimate: HK$4,800,000 - 7,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$4,100,000
Sold: HK$5,166,000
Lot 961 | A huanghuali painting table, hua'an | Furniture from the Collection of Mimi Wong
17th-18th century
87.6 x 205.1 x 67.9 cm
Estimate: HK$1,800,000 - 3,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$3,600,000
Sold: HK$4,536,000
Lot 966 | A rare huanghuali temple-form shine | Furniture from the Collection of Mimi Wong
17th century
71.1 x 96.5 x 45.7 cm
Estimate: HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Hammer Price: HK$2,300,000
Sold: HK$2,898,000
Lot 964 | A huanghuali six-post canopy bed, jiazichuang | Furniture from the Collection of Mimi Wong
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
233.7 x 235 x 166.4 cm
Estimate: HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Hammer Price: HK$2,100,000
Sold: HK$2,646,000
Lot 958 | A very rare pair of huanghuali low-back armchairs, meiguiyi | Furniture from the Collection of Mimi Wong
17th/18th century
82.4 x 56.6 x 43.2 cm
Provenance:
- Property from the Raymond Hung Collection; sold at Christie’s New York, 21 March 2014, lot 2311
Estimate: HK$1,500,000 - 3,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,900,000
Sold: HK$2,394,000
Lot 967 | A huanghauli folding stool, jiaowu | Furniture from the Collection of Mimi Wong
17th century
52.1 x 59.7 x 53.3 cm
Estimate: HK$200,000 - 300,000
Hammer Price: HK$1,200,000
Sold: HK$1,512,000
Lot 965 | A huanghuali meditation stool | Furniture from the Collection of Mimi Wong
17th century
50.8 x 73.5 x 59.5 cm
Estimate: HK$600,000 - 800,000
Hammer Price: HK$700,000
Sold: HK$882,000
Lot 968 | A huanghuali album box | Furniture from the Collection of Mimi Wong
17th century
9.5 x 49.8 x 40 cm
Estimate: HK$300,000 - 500,000
Hammer Price: HK$600,000
Sold: HK$756,000
Lot 969 | A pair of large huanghuali rectangular storage boxes | Furniture from the Collection of Mimi Wong
18th century
40.6 x 88 x 57.5 cm
Estimate: HK$500,000 - 800,000
Hammer Price: HK$450,000
Sold: HK$567,000
Other Highlight Lots from Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Sale:
Lot 924 | A fine and very rare pair of famille rose 'prunus and lingzhi' tea bowls
Yongzheng six-character marks in underglaze blue within circles and of the period (1722-1735)
Diameter: 9.1 cm
Provenance:
- The Property of an Asian Collector; sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 October 1995, lot 752
Estimate: HK$20,000,000 - 30,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$24,000,000
Sold: HK$29,415,000
Lot 953 | A very rare yaozhou moon-white glazed vase | Property from a distinguished Tokyo collection
Jin Dynasty (1115-1234)
Estimate: HK$800,000 - 1,200,000
Hammer Price: HK$6,100,000
Sold: HK$7,686,000
Lot 916 | A rare enamelled and copper-red decorated water pot, matizun | The property of a gentleman
Kangxi six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1662-1722)
Width: 12.8 cm
Provenance:
- C.T. Loo Collection, according to label
- Sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 21 May 1985, lot 150
- Sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 April 2000, lot 613
Estimate: HK$2,800,000 - 5,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$5,000,000
Sold: HK$6,300,000
Lot 948 | A Longquan celadon pear-shaped vase, yuhuchunping | The property of a gentleman
Early Ming Dynasty, 14th-15th century
Height: 33.3 cm
Provenance:
- Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 26 October 2003, lot 49
- Eskenazi, Ltd., London, no. EK188
- Ten-views Lingbi Rock Retreat Collection, North America
Estimate: HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$5,000,000
Sold: HK$6,300,000
Lot 957 | A large blue and white ‘floral scroll’ barbed-rim charger | Property from a distinguished Tokyo collection
Yongle period (1403-1425)
Diameter: 37.5 cm
Provenance:
- Sold at Sotheby’s London, 6 April 1976, lot 109
- Toguri Museum of Art, Tokyo
- Sold at Sotheby’s London, 100 Selected Chinese & Korean Ceramics from the Toguri Collection, 9 June 2004, lot 19
Estimate: HK$1,800,000 - 3,500,000
Hammer Price: HK$4,000,000
Sold: HK$5,040,000
Lot 921 | A doucai and famille rose ‘nine peaches’ dish | An important North American private collection
Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735)
Diameter: 18.6 cm
Estimate: HK$150,000 - 250,000
Hammer Price: HK$2,500,000
Sold: HK$3,150,000
Lot 975 | A rare large gilt-bronze figure of a bodhisattva | Property from an important Asian collection
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Height: 22 cm
Provenance:
- Kaikodo, New York, 1996
- Property from a New York Private Collection; sold at Christie's New York, 25 March 2022, lot 743
Estimate: HK$800,000 - 1,500,000
Hammer Price: HK$2,000,000
Sold: HK$2,520,000
Auction Details:
Auction House: Christie's Hong Kong
Sale: Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
Date: 2 May 2025
Number of Lots: 131
Sold: 89
Unsold: 42
Sale Rate: 68%
Sale Total: HK$179,818,200 (US$23.3 million)