Shah Alam doesn’t remember exactly which of the dozens of bananas he sold last Wednesday ended up being taken across the road, taped onto a wall and bought for $6.2 million (£4.9 million).

The 74-year-old street vendor from Bangladesh, who works opposite Sotheby’s auction house in New York’s Upper East side, sells four bananas for a dollar, or one for 35 cents.

He was mystified, and then devastated, to later learn that a banana from his stand had become probably the most expensive piece of fruit to ever be sold in the world.

Strapped to a white wall with duct-tape, the banana artwork, titled ‘Comedian’ by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, is touted as an absurdist commentary on the art world.