Few contemporary paintings ever sell for a million quid. That's some serious cheddah. But what's far less likely is that an artist's piece will sell for that kind of money and then just shred itself right in the frame as the sale comes to a close.

Nevertheless, that's exactly what happened with Banksy's iconic "Girl With The Red Balloon" painting Friday, October 5th, at a Sotheby's auction.

Apparently, a shredding mechanism was built into the back of the painting and as the gavel dropped at the final bid, the painting began to "slide" in its frame and begin to crawl, shredded, out the bottom of the frame to the astonished faces of the folks watching in the room.

Here's a snapshot Banksy posted to Instagram:

And some video of the moment:

What became of the shredded painting? It went up in value, of course!

If you're unfamiliar with Banksy, I heartily suggest seeing the excellent documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop.