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Do you remember the world’s most elaborate corkscrew, built by the artist Rob Higgs? Higgs, a “mechanical sculptor, automata and inventor” assembled the huge mobile sculpture, which perfectly opens a bottle of wine and pours a glass, from found items. It wouldn’t look out of place in a Tim Burton movie.
Prototype
Well now Rob Higgs’s incredible and hugely impractical bronze mechanical corkscrew is being auctioned off at Christie’s, London and is expected to fetch up to $32,000 (£25,000), according to The Telegraph. This prototype of the giant corkscrew (three more have since been made and sold) dates back to 2006 and took Rob Higgs three years to complete. He often forages for parts on scrapheaps and in boat yards – indeed one component of the machine is an old fishing spearhead.
Out of the ordinary
The piece is being sold as part of Christie’s Out of the Ordinary sale on 13 September at its South Kensington showroom. This mechanical corkscrew is certainly that.
Watch it in action below (it isn't a quick process) and click here to see the mechanical clockwork knife Rob Higgs made for Heston Blumenthal – weighing a quarter of a ton.
Have you visited Bordeaux's wine theme park yet?
