It’s his cup, he can sip if he wants to!
An art collector in Shanghai who coughed up $36.3 million for an ancient Chinese cup chose to celebrate his cherished score by using the artifact to enjoy a glass of tea.
One of only 19 in existence, the extremely rare porcelain cup referred to as the “chicken cup” was bought by Liu Yiqian last week at the Hong Kong Sotheby’s auction, the Wall Street Journal reports.
After charging his American Express card 24 different times so the colossal payment could go through, Yiqian made the ultimate decision to use the “holy grail” of Chinese porcelains to innocently sip some tea.
Pictures of Yiqian’s “chicken cup” heresy quickly surfaced on the Internet over the weekend, sending enraged Chinese locals into a frenzy.
The finance guru and art collector had sparked an overwhelming amount of outrage from people in China because they believed he had desecrated the highly treasured cup when he decided to pour himself the glass of tea.
“You think you can drink it and become immortal? Or that it will extend your life? In fact, isn’t it just a way to satisfy your vanity?” wrote a user on Weibo.
“No people who are civilized would treat a cultural treasure like this,” another added.
China’s “chicken cups” were created during the Ming Dynasty and are supposed to have a notoriously silky texture. They are decorated with a colorful rooster, a hen and their tiny baby chicks.
Despite claims from locals that Yiqian was simply trying to flaunt his enormous wealth, he said drinking from the cherished relic was a decision he didn’t deem too serious at the time, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“It happened when I was praying,” he said. “A Sotheby’s staffer poured me some tea. I saw the [chicken cup] and excitedly poured some of that tea into the cup and drank a little.”
“Such a simple thing — what’s so crazy about that?” he added.