A RARE vase once used to hold flowers has become the most expensive work of art sold in the region.

Called Deux Figures Femmes Aillee and featuring two winged female nudes with outstretched arms, the rare cire perdue vase was sold for £280,000 to a private collector in the US during an auction at Anderson and Garland, in Newcastle.

One of four, it was produced in 1922 and as well as having the R Lalique wheel engraved mark, has a thumbprint on its base.

Discovered in a box during a probate valuation at a house in the Morpeth area of Northumberland , it had evidently been used to as a flower vase.

A French glass designer, Rene Lalique became famous in the first part of the 20th Century for his Art Deco style.

Mark Waller, from the Gallery Moderne – Le Style Lalique, in New York State, placed the second- highest bid for the vase.

He said: “The poignancy of bidding for a vase with angels on, on the anniversary of 9/11 was not lost on me. It’s a very nice vase and I visited its pair in Sunderland.”

Anderson and Garland director Julian Thomson said: “When I saw the vase, it immediately caught my eye and after consulting our ceramics expert Steven Moore, it soon become apparent that this was quite a special find.”