Cover ‘Jaw-Piece’ by Alexander McQueen in collaboration with Shaun Leane from The Met (Photo: courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
‘Jaw-Piece’ by Alexander McQueen in collaboration with Shaun Leane from The Met (Photo: courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
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McQueen’s iconic ‘Jaw-Piece’, an Egyptian princess’s wig rings and a kinetic necklace: New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) brings about 200 jewellery pieces to Hong Kong for a grand exhibition this month
The Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) has unveiled its latest landmark collaboration, Treasures of Global Jewellery from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Body Transformed, a sweeping exploration of human adornment spanning nearly 4,000 years. This exhibition marks a significant historical milestone as the first major travelling showcase of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s (The Met) encyclopaedic jewellery collection, with Hong Kong serving as its inaugural stop.
Running from April 15 to October 19, 2026, the exhibition features about 200 masterpieces drawn from 13 different curatorial departments at The Met.
The decision to choose Hong Kong as the debut location was a deliberate result of three years of conversation between the two institutions. Quincy Houghton, deputy director for exhibitions and international initiatives at The Met, says that Hong Kong and New York are “two very global and international cities” that share a vision for cross-cultural exchange. “We’ve always been very impressed by the Hong Kong Palace Museum,” she says. “I’ve visited several times. I’ve seen the exhibitions and [those on] jewellery. We know their quality and presentation, their extreme care and how they work with other institutional loans.”
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Above This brooch is an iconic design by Raymond Yard, a leading New York jeweller. Yard created a series of rabbit waiters carrying wine glasses and bottles as a playful nod to the Prohibition era (1920–1933), when the manufacture and consumption of alcohol was banned across America. Designs like this appealed to his affluent patrons who still enjoy alcohol during this time (Photo: courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
This brooch is an iconic design by Raymond Yard, a leading New York jeweller. Yard created a series of rabbit waiters carrying wine glasses and bottles as a playful nod to the Prohibition era (1920–1933), when the manufacture and consumption of alcohol was banned across America. Designs like this appealed to his affluent patrons who still enjoy alcohol during this time (Photo: courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
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The exhibits were selected for their “excellent condition” and robustness. “We have a vast collection, so we want to make sure that we’re choosing the best works,” says Melanie Holcomb, the curator of the Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters and manager of collection strategy of The Met. “And then [we chose pieces that we think would] pique your interest, so that we can really tell a rich story about how jewellery functions and what it means to the people.”
The exhibition is structured into five thematic sections that examine jewellery as one of humanity’s oldest creative expressions, predating even cave paintings by tens of thousands of years. Holcomb says that the show is a testament to jewellery as a “universal phenomenon” where East and West intersect through shared materials and values. “Everybody loves gold,” she says. “Cultures, wherever you are from, in general use their finest materials and most interesting techniques to create jewellery.”
Above Gold sandals and toe stalls from Egypt, New Kingdom period, 18th Dynasty, reign of Thutmose III (about 1479–1425 BCE) (Photo: courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Gold sandals and toe stalls from Egypt, New Kingdom period, 18th Dynasty, reign of Thutmose III (about 1479–1425 BCE) (Photo: courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
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The narrative begins with The Divine Body, showcasing how ancient civilisations in Egypt and the Americas used gold to embody immortality. Notable highlights include the gold slippers and toe stalls from an Egyptian burial to protect the spirits of the dead in their afterlives.
To enhance local relevance, the HKPM has injected Chinese aesthetics into the exhibition by pairing Met masterpieces with significant works from the museum’s own Mengdiexuan and Chris Hall Collections. This results in visual dialogues, such as the juxtaposition of a 4th-century BCE gold headdress with animals from the Mengdiexuan Collection alongside a 1st-century BCE Colombian headdress ornament.
The exhibition also features artistic direction by acclaimed Hong Kong designer Alan Chan, who introduced signature jewellery monograms and symmetrical styles to accentuate key objects.
Above Large and small wig rings of Sithathoryunet, on a modern wig from Egypt, Middle Kingdom period, 12th Dynasty, reign of Senwosret II–Amenemhat III (about 1887–1813 BCE) (Photo: courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Large and small wig rings of Sithathoryunet, on a modern wig from Egypt, Middle Kingdom period, 12th Dynasty, reign of Senwosret II–Amenemhat III (about 1887–1813 BCE) (Photo: courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
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The exhibition coincides with this year’s Met Gala in New York, which carries the theme of “fashion as art”. Houghton says that the two events are “very connected” because both focus on the body as a canvas for expression. While the Met Gala focuses on the Costume Institute’s collection, The Body Transformed extends that conversation historically and geographically, examining how humans have used jewellery to elicit desire, ask for protection or articulate rank.
“This exhibition that Andrew Bolton, the curator of the Costume Institute exhibition, has curated [this year] includes over 400 works in total from [both] the Costume Institute collection [and] all the other Met curatorial departments,” says Houghton. “So it’s a conversation between fashion and all these other collection areas with around the focus of the body. And so that’s really very connected to what Melanie’s [jewellery] exhibition is about because you could see the sections are all connected to the body in all of these different forms of expression.”
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Among the most celebrated pieces in the show is a kinetic necklace by Alexander Calder from 1940. Houghton highlights this piece as an “extraordinary work of art” because it is activated by the body’s movement, essentially becoming a “sculpture in which the body is a component”. Other statement pieces include a Tiffany & Co emerald-and-diamond brooch, a Lakota beadwork dress weighing 15 pounds and Alexander McQueen’s iconic 1998 Jaw-Piece designed in collaboration with jeweller Shaun Leane, which was inspired by the aesthetics of reconstructive surgery from the First and Second World Wars.
To enrich the experience, the HKPM has introduced innovative multimedia features, including augmented reality stations where visitors can virtually try on signature pieces.
After its inaugural run in Hong Kong, the exhibition will travel to the Shanghai Museum. This journey underscores a shared aspiration to position Shanghai and Hong Kong as Asian global cities for art and culture through international partnerships.
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Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
