A 500-year-old cup, which measures only eight centimeters (3.1 in) and is daintily decorated with images of hens and chicks, was purchased by Shanghai collector Liu Yiqian for $36.3 million during an auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, the BBC reports.
Only 17 of these cups exist, four of which still in private hands. The result smashed the previous record for Chinese porcelain, set in 2010 with the sale of a vase for $32.4 million.