Although It Was Known To Be Valuable,

when the Swiss pharmaceutical tycoons the Zuellig brothers purchased it,

I doubt even they could have known that this rare wine cup fired in the imperial kilns of China's Ming dynasty more than 500 years ago, would be as valuable as the price it reached in Hong Kong, the tiny porcelain cup from the Chenghua period, dating from 1465 to 1487, is painted with cocks, hens and chicks, and is known simply as a "chicken cup" and what did it go for? HK$281.2m (£21.7m), making it one of the most expensive Chinese cultural relics ever auctioned, 


but even that figure failed to impress, some experts said China's slowing economy and credit squeeze may have sapped some market enthusiasm for the chicken cup, with the price falling just short of its high estimate, "The price was OK, not so high, not so low," said Robert Chang, a leading collector based in Hong Kong, and there was me thinking they only came in sets of 6!