Banksy piece that was on display at Peterborough Museum this year sells for £1 million

The Merrivale Stable, a small fibreglass model, which was secretly added to Merrivale Model Village in Great Yarmouth last summer, by anonymous British street artist Banksy, formed part of his ‘Great British Spraycation’ tour.

It had been on display at Peterborough Museum as part of the Urban exhibition in December and January.

Today it went under the hammer in Newcastle - and sold for a seven figure sum to a private collector.

The previous owners Frank and Frances Newsome decided to auction it over fears the original could be stolen.

The couple, who have spent hundreds of pounds on extra security for the miniature model, hope the sale will secure the future of their tourist attraction, which lost money during the pandemic.

“The Banksy has been a life-saver for us as we’ve had to close so much over the last couple of years due to the pandemic,” said Frances, who has run the model village since 2017. “We hope the sale will safeguard the future of the village.”

The unique piece was offered to the market for the first time as part of The Modern Art & Design Auction at Anderson & Garland Auctioneers.

Anderson & Garland MD, Julian Thomson “We were thrilled to be chosen by the owners to sell the piece on their behalf. Although now based in East Anglia, they have strong ties to the North East and their parents frequented our saleroom. From the moment this great story hit the press, it grabbed the attention of collectors from across the globe. Interest was high and that ultimately produced plenty of bidders on the day. There was a fantastic buzz in the saleroom and after a bidding battle the hammer finally came down achieving a great result for the client”.

Frank said ” My family and I are absolutely delighted with the result achieved today. It’s a fantastic result for the park. We’ve enjoyed the whole auction experience. We put our trust in Anderson & Garland and they didn’t let us down!”