[laing]

Hi,

Have been keeping an eye on this signed Love Rat on fleabay (220239458553) but not sure about the signature.

Any thoughts...?

[alsbabar]

meet the seller at POW and get it confirmed before parting with the money

[jonpud]

I looked at that signature and my opinion is that it's total s**te! I couldn't be bothered to open a thread about it as everyone's opinion differs!

Thing is although Banksy didn't sign the whole batch together and even though his signature has changed over the years, there are some characteristics that remain. for instance the pencil running from the 'A' to the 'N' should start the N at the bottom, not the top!

Here is a good example of a signed 'Love Rat' (Stamp on left)


Here's the one on Ebay (Stamp on right)

Two other things to consider;
1. Although POW were a little haphazard in stamping the prints, from what I have seen of these all the unsigned had the stamp on the right and all the signed had it on the left, the only two signed I have seen with the stamp on the right as well as the signature have looked fake!(Too big a coincidence IMO)
2. No one has bid on it yet, and starting at £3.5k is a good price!

I beleive that whoever is selling has the details of a numbered print (ie the original registered buyer) a fake signature has been applied and the number changed! This is only my opinion and I know others will think differently, but I wouldn't touch this print with yours, let alone mine! Regardless of provenance, it stinks!

Here is another example of what I consider to be forged!(Stamp on right)

[mammal2]

I agree with Pud. Utter shite. IMO of course!

[londonview]

The signature does look a bit ropey but then again so would yours after 150 prints!

I think what is more telling is that the stamp is on the wrong side for a signed print. POW do this deliberately to make sure that you can't sign an unsigned edition.

The fact that this guy has specifically said 'designed to make it hard to change I am told' makes me even more suspicious that this guy has taken an unsigned print, changed the number to match another provenance and then whacked a signature on it.

[manchestermike]

Also to consider they may have been signed a year or more apart... the stamp and the sig "could" be fine

[havana07]

Fake.

[funkrye]

May 29, 2008 17:40:05 GMT 1 @jonpud said:

I looked at that signature and my opinion is that it's total s**te! I couldn't be bothered to open a thread about it as everyone's opinion differs!

Thing is although Banksy didn't sign the whole batch together and even though his signature has changed over the years, there are some characteristics that remain. for instance the pencil running from the 'A' to the 'N' should start the N at the bottom, not the top!

Here is a good example of a signed 'Love Rat' (Stamp on left)


Here's the one on Ebay (Stamp on right)

Two other things to consider;
1. Although POW were a little haphazard in stamping the prints, from what I have seen of these all the unsigned had the stamp on the right and all the signed had it on the left, the only two signed I have seen with the stamp on the right as well as the signature have looked fake!(Too big a coincidence IMO)
2. No one has bid on it yet, and starting at £3.5k is a good price!

I beleive that whoever is selling has the details of a numbered print (ie the original registered buyer) a fake signature has been applied and the number changed! This is only my opinion and I know others will think differently, but I wouldn't touch this print with yours, let alone mine! Regardless of provenance, it stinks!

Here is another example of what I consider to be forged!(Stamp on right)

If this is fake isn't it an example why back door prints should be frowned upon?

and surely by now people know POW stamped the prints any side they felt like.

[junkieart]

totally agree PUD, started reading it as the first signature was dodgy! because of my size of screen and panicked thinking that looks good to me!!!
Happily read the rest, yes the second one looks crap to me !!! JA

[Daz]

def get it to pow, signature and stamp look iffy imo

[Heavyconsumer]

Yup, I think the sig looks off too, there are some major differences in the individual letters, that might suggest they've not been written by the same hand, but having been signed to far apart time-wise, it's hard to be sure unless you're an expert on handwriting (which I am not - but to me the letters look they've been formed differently). POW is a must! I wouldn't go near it otherwise.

[waXology]

Not only the sig but look at what you can see of the actual images themselves. the top one loosk crisp while the 'fake' one underneath looks different. the stencil looks different. totally fake,.

[jonpud]

May 30, 2008 6:06:55 GMT 1 waXology said:

Not only the sig but look at what you can see of the actual images themselves. the top one loosk crisp while the 'fake' one underneath looks different. the stencil looks different. totally fake,.

I think the print itself is a genuine POW print, ignoring the backdoor genuine prints and a few that Banksy gave out to fellow Artists and friends I am only aware of a couple of totally fake prints that were not printed by POW, I think I'm right in saying that they originated in Japan!

The pictures look slightly different because of poor photography.

I am 100% convinced that this was an unsigned edition and someone has tried to copy Banksy's signature, they must have access to the details of the registered owner which makes it all the more worrying! You wouldn't even be able to confirm authenticity with POW!!!!!

Crazy Jake has authenticity sewn up IMO, he sent me a print complete with a crisp new $1 Bill, the serial number on the Bill is unique and is registered against the print and my name, if you can't offer the Bill up with the print then you can't prove it's genuine, nice if POW took up this idea with£5.00 notes, wouldn't cost them anything as I am sure we would all be willing to pay the extra £5.00 to give 100% peace of mind!

Just one more thing, I bought a signed Love Rat from someone who also had a signed Welcome to Hell, both prints were bought by this woman in person from POW she had ALL receipts and proof of the transaction. When it came to confirming the ownership with POW (which I do in ALL cases) the print was not registered in her name. It turns out that an 'oversight' on POW's behalf meant that another print was numbered the same as they had forgotten to enter the details of the buyer into the register! After much discussion, POW took back the print and re-numbered it with an un-issued number and then registered it in my name!

My point is.........It's pretty easy to remove the number and pencil in a new one! Just add's to the argument!

What's to stop me signing my 'unsigned' Napalm and giving it the same number as my 'signed' edition? I then sell the unsigned for a small fortune as I have the registered details of the owner! A few years later I sell the genuine signed edition.....easy money! Especially when all these sellers blur out the edition number so the true owner of the print doesn't see the same number up for sale!

One more very small and remote theory, what if they needed to ship out a 'signed' copy from POW and Banksy was away for several months and couldn't sign? Remote I know but these were the early days of POW and before Banksy became the phenomenon he is today, could it have been signed by a member of POW staff? Stranger things have happened!!

[viperuk]

I contacted the seller regarding this and informed them that I wanted to purchase but have POW verify the print before funds were transferred, no response from the seller and he/she then removed the print from ebay...!!!

[jonpud]

May 31, 2008 12:26:16 GMT 1 viperuk said:

I contacted the seller regarding this and informed them that I wanted to purchase but have POW verify the print before funds were transferred, no response from the seller and he/she then removed the print from ebay...!!!

Think that says it all!!!!