“Between torture tool and kitchen utensil’: “Cash for Rares” object irritates – but value surprises. The sellers Frank and son Francis from Bonn, who themselves had no idea what it was, bought it at an antique market in Nice.

“I didn’t know what to do with it either,” Frank admitted. After the dealers outbid each other a few times, the leg holder went to Steve Mandel for 200 euros.