$36 million chicken cup meets the public

The chenghua doucai chicken cup is on display at the Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

The $36 million chicken cup purchased by collector Liu Yiqian officially meets the public at an elaborately planned exhibition in Liu's Long Museum in Shanghai.

The world of Zhu Jianshen: A Chinese emperor's life and his era – Chenghua doucai chicken cup special exhibition kicked off at the Long Museum West Bund in Shanghai on Dec 18. The exhibition will run through Feb 8.

"The purpose of the exhibition is to let people know the history and culture behind the chicken cup, instead of its sky high price," Liu Yiqian said, "I think the chicken cup is an epoch-making item."

According to the newspaper Beijing News, Liu hopes that the exhibition will be unique. "I want it to be special, unconventional, and surprises audiences. I want to show them that how modern museums display their collections," he said.

Curator of the exhibition Xie Xiaodong said that ceramics, paintings and calligraphy from the Chenghua period is rare. "People used to pay more attention to the cup's price and its artistic value, but we hope we can guide visitors to re-explore the history of the Ming Dynasty through the chicken cup," he said.

The exhibition will mark the second anniversary since the founding of the Long Museum.

It is said that Liu has spent more than 4 million yuan (about $642,550) to construct the exhibition site. The overall facade of the museum has been transformed to a gate tower resembling the Forbidden City and visitors will go through a red lacquer "palace gate" before entering into the exhibition hall.

Except for the eye-catching cup, paintings and calligraphy, many precious materials from the Chenghua period are on display. Staff are on hand to explain to visitors how the chicken cup was made.

The chenghua doucai chicken cup was bought by Liu Yiqian at a Sotheby's auction in April at a record price of $36 million. He sipped tea out of the cup when he went to Hong Kong to take back the porcelain cup, stirring much talk among netizens in July.

The chicken cup was then stored in a bonded warehouse in Shanghai after being transferred from Hong Kong, and this time it was borrowed from the warehouse for the exhibition. Usually, the warehouse allows objects to be borrowed for six months, but Liu said two months are enough.

At the same time, during the exhibition, the Long Museum ordered 10,000 replicas of the chicken cup, with each to be sold for 288 yuan. Liu said that he wants other people to enjoy the cup as well.

According to Beijing News, another priceless artwork, an embroidered Thangka purchased by Liu this year, will be exhibited in 2016.