A handbag that is “smaller than a grain of salt and narrow enough to pass through the eye of a needle” was sold for $63,000 (Rs 51.7 lakh) at an auction in New York on Wednesday. The neon green bag, modelled after the Louis Vuitton Monogram OnTheGo handbag, measures just 657 by 222 by 700 micrometres.

It was created by MSCHF, a New York-based art collective known for its outlandish and bizarre creations. The bag had amused the internet right after it was unveiled earlier this month.

“As a once-functional object like a handbag becomes smaller and smaller its object status becomes steadily more abstracted until it is purely a brand signifier,” the collective said, describing the microscopic handbag.

MSCHF has not sought permission from Louis Vuitton to use their logo or design for the microscopic handbag.