An 18th-century bamboo table, with European black and golden lacquer tray with chased gilt bronze mounts, right; an 18th-century huanghuali square table, left. FROM LEFT: KRAEMER GALLERY; LIANG YI MUSEUM

(Editor: Leona)

During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the 17th century, French Jesuit missionaries such as Joachim Bouvet thrived as tutors and diplomats in the Chinese court. At a time when chinoiserie, Chinese-inspired objects of art, was becoming fashionable among the French elite, Bouvet and his colleagues served as purveyors of culture and knowledge between the two empires. Hong Kong, China’s Liang Yi Museum explores one aspect of this connection with its new exhibit, “Great Minds Think Alike: 18th Century French and Chinese Furniture Design.” As the WSJ reports:

The idea for a Franco-Sino showcase began last year when French gallerist Mikael Kraemer and his brother were visiting the Liang Yi Museum, which was founded by Hong Kong, China businessman Peter Fung and bills itself as the largest private museum in the city. Mr. Kraemer was stunned at the similarities between the imperial-era Chinese furniture on display and the 18th-century pieces sold by his family-owned gallery in Paris.

“They got down on their knees and were looking at the construction of the furniture for clues,” said Lynn Fung, the museum’s director and the Kraemers’ host that day. “So I said out of the blue, ‘If there are so many similarities, I’m sure there must have been a show done about it.’ ” The Kraemers went back to Paris, but in the following months neither they nor Ms. Fung could find a previous exhibition that juxtaposed furniture from pre-republican China and France.