Unique Item of the week... the $50k 'cabbage' vase

This week's most Unique Item certainly won't be to everyone's taste - which is unusual considering that it's from the factory of the pre-eminent tasteful New York art deco designers Tiffany & Co.

This cabbage-shaped Tiffany art pottery vase was originally discovered in a flea market on 23rd Street in New York.

Yet, last month, it sold for an incredible $50,020 at the opening of the Rago Arts and Auction Center's 20th Century Design Weekend.


The Louis Comfort Tiffany vase, sold for $50,020

The circa 1900 vase more than doubled its high estimate and, according to reports, literally fell from a truck into the arms of the eager dealer who snapped it up.

The Louis Comfort Tiffany vase's inimitable appearance, rendered in mottled polychrome matte glaze, is certainly one of the more singular items to emerge from Tiffany.

Overall, the two-day auction netted a total of $3.28m in sales.

The Rago Arts and Auction Center, in New Jersey, US is regarded as an international leader in modern design, frequented by such great interior designers as Juan Montoya, Amy Lau and Alexander Gorlin.

The sale took place on January 16-17.

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