Chenghua Chicken cups

This tiny Ming dynasty cup known as the 'chicken cup' will be auctioned today in Hong Kong and is expected to fetch as much as US$38.5 million. The cup small enough to be held in the palm, was made between 1465 and 1487 and is named for the chickens painted on the side of the cup.



The chicken cup

Why such a small cup can be so valuable? Well, there are only 19 such cups known to exist and only 4 are in private hands, the rest are in museums.

Part of the Meiyintang collection owned by Switzerland's Zuellig family, this chicken cup is also the last chicken cup to be auctioned. In 1999, a similar cup was auctioned for US$3.7 million, a record for a Chinese porcelain.

The wares from this 15th century period are known as Chenghua porcelain, name after the Ming dynasty emperor who ruled China at that time. This period was known to produce porcelain that peaked in material refinement. The imperial kilns of that period exercised strict quality control and the art work on the porcelains was simple yet lovely.

The painting on the cup depicts a rooster and a hen taking care of a young chick, a parable for Confucian virtues that extend to an emperor who looked after his subjects. The simplicity is what makes this cup so desirable and collectors all over the world will sure bid intensely for it.

Only 4 cups are in private collection

 The Chenghua porcelains were also widely copied during the Qing dynasty as Qing emperors were fascinated by the exceptional quality and art work of such wares produced during the mid-Ming dynasty.

Another Chenghua cup showing bunches of grapes

(News on TV tonight reported that the chicken cup was successfully auctioned for over S$50 million, the new owner is a collector from Shanghai).