What does a bad day look like? (Hint: Breaking the world’s largest blown glass castle)
You know what happens when somebody is playing too rough near delicate treasures — such as the world’s largest blown glass castle.
Shenanigans. Horsing around. Tomfoolery. Call it what you like, but pretty much everyone can remember a time when their parents scolded them for getting too rambunctious. That’s what happened in the Shanghai Museum of Glass in China.
According to Vice, the Shanghai Museum of Glass in China posted a notice on the Chinese social media site Weibo saying that one of their prized exhibits was, unfortunately, broken by “two little visitors” back in May 2021.
Attention: Glass castle down!
Apparently, two children who were visiting the museum with their parents climbed over barriers and accidentally knocked into a glass case that held an exquisite glass model of a Disney castle, causing part of the model to fall and shatter, according to Vice.
We can only imagine the looks on the parents’ faces when they found out.
The museum, however, seemed to take the incident in stride, commenting on Weibo, “The little visitors knew that their behaviour was inappropriate, and, under the encouragement of their parents, reported the incident to the museum staff. Their attitudes were friendly and sincere, and they agreed to help out with follow-up matters.”
According to The Paper, as translated by Vice, the glass castle is valued at 450,000 yuan ($64,000 USD), and took artists over 500 hours to create it. It also weighs 60 kilograms (about 132 pounds), has over 30,000 pieces, and is decorated in 24 karat gold, according to Vice. The Arribas Brothers, a U.S. company that makes Disney collectibles, gave the castle to the museum in 2016.
It’s unclear as to whether the families of the children will be involved in the repairs, but some commenters on Weibo called for the parents to give money to the museum as compensation, according to Vice. Some also commented on the family’s parenting skills and criticized the children for not having “manners.”
The glass display is currently still in its state of disrepair as a reminder to museum goers to be careful around the exhibits. The museum noted in their post on Weibo that they apologize if it “negatively affects your museum experience,” Vice reported.
Source: Travel & Leisure, “Kids Break $64,000 Glass Replica of Disney Castle That Took Over 500 Hours to Make,” July 23, 2020.
