CHINA: Earlier this month, a young boy in China accidentally knocked over a display stand in a museum that held a hand-crafted gold wedding crown allegedly worth US$280,000 (approximately S$359,000).
The crown belonged to a Chinese influencer named Zhang Kaiyi and had been especially crafted for her by her husband, the artist Zhang Yudong, for their wedding. It is not available commercially.
The couple had organised the free exhibition together. Held at the Beijing X Museum, it featured the work of 86 artists around the theme of love.
In a surveillance video shared by Ms Zhang, the boy, who is dressed in a black and white tracksuit and looks to be a pre-teen, is accompanied by his mother, who is taking a photo of the crown. Prior to the accident, he can be seen hugging the display stand and rocking it gently.
From one moment to the next, he reaches out and touches the glass casing around the crown. The casing then topples over and falls, taking the crown with it, as the boy’s mother looks on in dismay. The crown is then seen tumbling to the floor.
Ms Zhang, who is seven months pregnant, said in her video, published on Douyin on Dec 13, that the damage to the 2-kg crown caused much emotional distress to her and her husband. She also expressed worries that the mishap was a bad omen for her marriage and pregnancy.
According to a report in Chosun.com, she said, “This phoenix gold crown was designed and made by my husband himself, so it cannot be bought on the market and cannot be priced. It is so precious to us, and I am very upset that it was damaged.”
Her video has received some backlash, however, with commenters wondering if she had posted it to assign blame to the child. It also caused her to lose thousands of followers.
In Douyin entries that followed, Ms Zhang clarified that because the golden crown is insured, she and her husband have not sought compensation for the damage it sustained. She has underlined, however, that people who visit exhibits should not touch the displays.
Nevertheless, others answered back, with one person who said they worked in the industry saying that artwork on pedestals is often deliberately shaken to make sure that they are accident-proof.
Another person said that based on the fingerprints that can be found on display cases at museums, organisers should expect some degree of handling or touching. /TISG
