What's in a chicken cup? That is, what's in a chicken cup that should make it worth US $36 million?

It's a porcelain cup from the Ming Dynasty, and it has set a new record when it fetched US $36m at a Hong Kong auction.

The 500-year old chicken cup was bought by Shanghai collector, Liu Yiqian, one of the richest men in China.

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The previous auction record for China porcelain, according to Sotheby's, was a vase that sold for US $32.4m in 2010.

The cup, with a top diameter of 8 centimeters and adorned with a rooster, a mother hen and their chicks, was manufactured sometime between 1465 and 1487.

Auctioneers say only 17 of these cups remain to this day, most of them in museums.

Sotheby's Nicolas Chow describes the ancient piece as "the holy grail when it comes to Chinese art."

The tiny Chinese Chicken Cup is expected to land at the Long Museum, which Liu opened in Shanghai in 2012.