Houdini's Water Torture Cell sells at auction

Houdini's restored Water Torture Cell sold for $300,000 at "The Great Houdini Auction" held at the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas on October 30. The auction sold off the vast majority of the Sidney Radner collection. The USD was the auction highlight with an estimate of $75,000-$200,000. Below is the auction page as it appeared on eBay.

Click to enlarge.

The $300,000 bid was the highest price ever paid for a piece of magic apparatus. The buyer was David Copperfield. Copperfield also acquired Houdini's Milk Can for $35,000 and Houdini's iron gibbet for $65,000.

UPDATE: It appears irregularities with the bidding and an undisclosed reserve resulted in a settlement of the final sale price at $150,000.

Related:

• New York Times: Sidney Radner collection to be auctioned in Las Vegas