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Ming Mai’s roots lie in a trip to the Far East
in the Fall of 1999 by Jane and John Wills of
Santa Monica. In Hong Kong, they wandered into
Oi Ling Antiques, a small shop on Lyndhurst
Terrace in the famous Hollywood Road district of
Hong Kong, looking for antiques for their new
home
Oi Ling Antiques, specializing
in 18th and 19th century Chinese furniture, is a
family-run business spearheaded by Oi Ling
Chiang — a renowned expert in Chinese furniture
and a member of the Hong Kong Art Craft
Merchants Association, Ltd.
Oi Ling has also served on the vetting committee
of many international antique shows, including
the Arts of Pacific Asia Show held annually at
the Santa Monica Convention Hall.
Oi Ling has been involved in antique Chinese
furniture since 1984, receiving an education in
the distinctive woods and craftsmanship of
Chinese furniture-makers under the tutelage of
her mother, the daughter of Mr. Poon Ping Kong,
a well-known collector of antique furniture in
China. Mr. Poon’s collection was said to fill up
more than three mansions in Guilin, Guangxi
province, and was established in large part due
to Mr. Poon’s position as the imperial officer
in charge of the salt trade in the Guangdong and
Guangxi provinces.
On that same trip
in 1999, Jane and John Wills accompanied Oi Ling
on a visit to Oi Ling Antiques' workshop and
warehouses in mainland China. There they
observed the expert cleaning and restoration
process all pieces go through before being
transferred to Hong Kong.
Returning home to
Santa Monica with several lovely pieces
purchased from Oi Ling Antiques, the Wills found
themselves eager to learn more about Chinese
antiques and to add to their growing collection.
Scouting Los Angeles, however, they found
nothing that could match the extraordinary
beauty and quality they had found in Oi Ling’s
shop. Determined to make such exceptional pieces
available in Los Angeles, they talked with Oi
Ling and her husband Phillip. Shortly
thereafter, Ming Mai was born to become the sole
distributor of Oi Ling Antiques' distinctive
furniture and special
collection pieces in Southern California.
The four
principals chose the name Ming Mai for its
meaning in Chinese. “Ming” enjoys the dual
meaning of “brightness” and the Ming Dynasty,
the origins of much of Ming Mai’s furniture. Mai
suggests “beauty.” Together the two characters
mean “the beauty and simplicity of Ming-style
things” or “something bright and beautiful” —
each of which describes Ming Mai’s incomparable
inventory.
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