Banksy's Barcode Leopard art sold locally for £15,000
BANKSY’S Barcode Leopard was sold for £15,000 to an in-house buyer at Martel Maides Auctions yesterday.
‘We are absolutely delighted with the sale, especially for it to be sold locally to a bidder in the room,’ said Jason Yendell, business development manager.
When approached for comment, the buyer did not wish to make any statement on the purchase.
Bidding began at £11,000 with a commission bid and swiftly rose in increments of £500 until the gavel fell on the final selling price.
‘The price is fixed for these types of pieces,’ Mr Yendell said.
‘They always sell between £12,000 and £16,000 and so there is normally no need for buyers to go above the estimated price.’
Additional to the final price a buyer’s premium of 17.5% is paid to Martel Maides, resulting in a total cost of £17,625 to the winning bidder.
The auction saw around 35 people attend, with four phones booked in advance for absentee bidders.
Two potential local buyers were reported to have placed bids in person in advance, with several in-house bidders competing for the piece and additional phone bidders joining at the last minute.
Auction director James Bridges said: ‘There was a huge amount of prior interest.
‘We had lots of people curious of the piece coming in to view it. Serious bidders tend to come in incognito and so we were unsure what the final turnout would be.’
The final price fell right in the middle of the estimated selling price of £14,000 to £16,000.
