Homecoming set for 'king' of ancient bronze wine vessels

Hunan Provincial Museum will welcome home a 3,000-year-old Chinese bronze wine vessel on June 14.

A group of Chinese collectors struck a private deal for the sale of the vessel with auction house Christie's New York and donated it to the Hunan Provincial Museum, which has been the home for the vessel's lid since 1956.

"We attributed the return of (the vessel) to the joint efforts of various parties, the government, private collectors and private enterprises," said Chen Yuanping, head of the cultural relics bureau of Hunan province. "We're glad that we finally bought it back in the name of the Hunan Provincial Museum."