Emile de Bruijn studied Japanese and museology at the universities of Leiden and Essex. He worked in the Japanese and Chinese departments of the auctioneers Sotheby's in London before joining the National Trust, where he is now a member of the central collections management team. Emile has lectured and published on many different aspects of chinoiserie in historic houses and gardens. He was coauthor (with Andrew Bush and Helen Clifford) of the catalogue Chinese Wallpaper in National Trust Houses (National Trust, 2014)