The tattered, olive-green, Manhattan-brand, button-up sweater, which has never been washed since Cobain wore it, came with dark stains and a burn hole.

The seller, Garrett Kletjian, owner of Forty7 Motorsports, bought it four years ago for US$137,500.

“This cardigan, it’s the holy grail of any article of clothing that he ever wore,” said Darren Julien, CEO and president of Julien’s Auctions.

“Kurt created the grunge look; he didn’t wear show clothes,” Julien said at a New York exhibition preview.

The auction house had predicted it would fetch US$200,000-US$300,000.

The music cable channel MTV began its “Unplugged” series in 1989, recording live performances of acts that generally played their normally electrified music on sparse acoustics.

Cobain’s haunting “Unplugged” performance with Nirvana – recorded less than six months before his suicide at age 27 – is considered one of the most iconic shows of the series, and was released posthumously.

Already deep into an emotional, drug-addled downward spiral, the depressive but singular talent with ocean-blue eyes reportedly lamented to “Unplugged” programmer Amy Finnerty after the set that the audience seemed not to like the show.

Cobain’s left-handed Fender Mustang guitar, which he used during the band’s “In Utero” tour, sold for US$340,000.