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Banksy's Slave Labour mural auctioned in London | |
(about 9 hours later) | |
A Banksy artwork that went missing from a wall in north London is up for auction for a second time. | |
The mural Slave Labour was taken from Wood Green in February. It later appeared at a Miami auction, but was withdrawn after protests. | |
The graffiti art is now being offered for sale in London by the Sincura Group. The minimum bid is £900,000. | |
MP Lynne Featherstone has urged the owners of the mural to give it back to the residents of north London. | MP Lynne Featherstone has urged the owners of the mural to give it back to the residents of north London. |
The mural, which depicts a boy hunched over a sewing machine making union jack bunting, appeared on the side of a Poundland store in May 2012, just before the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. | The mural, which depicts a boy hunched over a sewing machine making union jack bunting, appeared on the side of a Poundland store in May 2012, just before the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. |
'Enhanced an area' | 'Enhanced an area' |
It was being auctioned at the London Film Museum in Covent Garden on Sunday evening. | |
Sincura said the mural had been "sensitively restored" and if the piece did not reach the reserve price it would be sold to a collector in the US. | Sincura said the mural had been "sensitively restored" and if the piece did not reach the reserve price it would be sold to a collector in the US. |
Tony Baxter, director of the Sincura Group, said he could not divulge the owner of the piece but insisted it was being sold legally. | Tony Baxter, director of the Sincura Group, said he could not divulge the owner of the piece but insisted it was being sold legally. |
He said there was a chance the work would leave the UK unless an "angel" bought it and put it in a museum. | He said there was a chance the work would leave the UK unless an "angel" bought it and put it in a museum. |
But Ms Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, said: "This is admirable, perhaps, but also incredibly optimistic. | But Ms Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, said: "This is admirable, perhaps, but also incredibly optimistic. |
"So now I make this direct plea to the owners of the Banksy piece: You have this one last chance to do the right thing. | "So now I make this direct plea to the owners of the Banksy piece: You have this one last chance to do the right thing. |
"You have deprived a community of an asset that was given to us for free and greatly enhanced an area that needed it. | "You have deprived a community of an asset that was given to us for free and greatly enhanced an area that needed it. |
"I call on you, and your consciences, to pull the piece from both potential sales and return it to its rightful place." | "I call on you, and your consciences, to pull the piece from both potential sales and return it to its rightful place." |
When the Bristol artist's mural was up for auction in Miami, it was expected to fetch up to £450,000. | When the Bristol artist's mural was up for auction in Miami, it was expected to fetch up to £450,000. |
It was suspected the work had been stolen when it disappeared, but the Metropolitan Police said there were "no reports of any theft". | It was suspected the work had been stolen when it disappeared, but the Metropolitan Police said there were "no reports of any theft". |
Replicas | |
Six identical copies of the mural reportedly appeared in Wood Green on Saturday morning, 36 hours ahead of the auction. | |
According to The Sun, the replicas - painted on polystyrene - were left outside the same Poundland store where the original appeared. | |
The Metropolitan Police confirmed to the BBC that one of the replicas was later confiscated from a member of the public. | |
"At 10:40 hours on Saturday, 1 June, police stopped a man in possession of a piece of artwork in Wood Green," they said. | |
"The artwork is being treated as property found on the street and has been taken to a North London police station." | |
If no-one claims the copy, it, too, will be auctioned. |