BANKSY
Untitled (Rat and Sword), 2005
Stencil spray-paint on canvas
30.5 x 25.5 cm (12×10 inches)
Stenciled with the artist’s name on the overlap
Further signed, dated “11/FEB/2005” and variously inscribed on the reverse
Provenance
Private Collection
Bonhams, London, 24 October 2007, Lot 267
Private Collection
Lazarides Inc., London
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Auction History
Sotheby’s London: 6 October 2018|
Estimated: GBP 50,000 – 70,000
Price realized: GBP 286,000 / USD 373,245
(#106) BANKSY | Untitled (Rat and Sword)
Bonhams London: 24 October 2007
Price realized: GBP 64,800
Armed and defiant, Rat and Sword slices through the silence of the blank canvas with minimalist force. Positioned in the lower corner, the lone rat clenches a sword in its teeth like a rodent swashbuckler: small in scale but vast in symbolism. With his classic stencil technique, Banksy once again elevates the humble rat to the status of urban icon: scrappy, underestimated, and undeniably persistent.
The overwhelmingly empty space around the figure amplifies its presence. The rat isn’t just brandishing a weapon: it is declaring war on invisibility. With no graffiti tags, no clutter, no message other than its sheer audacity, this rat becomes a quiet emblem of rebellion. A creature from the margins standing tall in a world too big to notice.
Like much of Banksy’s rat series, Rat and Sword turns the underdog into the protagonist. It reminds us that resistance doesn’t always roar : it sometimes squeaks, sharpened teeth and all.
