Banksy's Union Jack 'Slave Labour' Mural Sells for $1.1 Million USD at Private Auction

Banksy‘s controversial Slave Labour mural – a satirization of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee depicting a young boy crafting Union Jack bunting at a sewing machine – has apparently been auctioned off after all, selling for $1.1 million USD at a private auction in London. According to Bloomberg, the 2012 spray painting – which was removed from its Turnpike Lane home in England’s capital in February before being subsequently withdrawn from auction later that very month following much controversy – was sold by Wood Green Investments (the owners of the building on which the piece was painted) over the weekend at a private event held in the basement of the London Film Museum, going for significantly more than its estimated $500,000-$700,000 USD valuation. Notably, the piece has not been certified by Banksy’s own Pest Control – which typically confirms the legitimacy and authenticity of a Banksy work – likely due to the controversy surrounding the removal of the public work from its original, public environment for private sale.