Philippe De Backer, Back to the Ming Dynasty

Belgian Philippe De Backer's "Lü Ming Shi" is the biggest private collection venue for Ming-style furniture outside China. Lü Ming Shi was named by the famous Chinese connoisseur and collector Wang Shixiang, literally meaning "to be a companion of the Ming collection."

For De Backer, furniture is full of life. He holds that people must live among it if they want to fully appreciate its full beauty. His collected pieces of exquisite Ming-style furniture are his companions. He likes to spend time with these items of furniture and be taken back to the Ming Dynasty by their presence.

In 2006, De Backer's 71 pieces of Chinese furniture were brought back to China when the Forbidden City hosted an exhibition of his collection at an event celebrating the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Belgium. In the spring of 2011, a special auction of all Lü Ming Shi's Ming furniture was held by the China Guardian auction house, causing quite a sensation.

Experts from the Beijing Palace Museum confirm that De Backer's profuse collection of Ming furniture, covering all categories, is well preserved and intact, and showcases exquisite workmanship. Therefore, De Backer has been named the collector and owner of most Ming scented wood furniture outside China.

In 1989, De Backer began to travel across China, visiting more than 30 Chinese cities, not to seek out furniture, but to experience Chinese culture. Due to the dwindling items of quality scented wood furniture in the hands of private Chinese owners, most of the items in De Backer's collection are from overseas and Hong Kong.

Years of study led De Backer to the discovery that Ming-style furniture has had a great influence on Western furniture design. Some famous furniture designers have paid tribute to Ming-style furniture with their master strokes. Chair backs of English furniture designs have also absorbed elements of Ming furniture.

As for the popular opinion that literary men were involved in the design of Ming furniture, De Backer doesn't endorse it as he thinks there is no tangible proof. Since ancient Chinese furniture usually reflects the relationship between humankind and nature, literary men intended to present a modest and gentle image as well as their humbleness before nature in their furniture. However, the most expensive wood was used, thus forming an interesting paradox.

"The East and the West are quite different in aesthetics. For example, in the West, to embody a person's nobleness, elaborate decoration will be used in furniture design. However, in China, the principle is less is more."