Sculptor Brian Cox has made a hobby out of turning people's faces into a real-life, stainless steel Rubin vase illusions. Novelty gifts, as a whole, now have a new standard for, well, novelty.

At first glance the sculptures, which come in candlestick, goblet, vase and custom configurations, just look like milled hunks of metal. But when viewed against a contrasting backdrop, the classic illusion becomes apparent. Cox can machine these inverted portraits out of either steel, brass or aluminum, and only needs a profile photo of your (or your soon-to-be creeped-out giftee's) face to get started. [Metal Portraits]

Send an email to John Herrman, the author of this post, at jherrman@gizmodo.com.