Gangsta Rat
A rat with a boombox and a gold chain. Signed only, in a larger run than most — and with enough recorded variants that identifying which Gangsta Rat you own is the first job.
Pictures on Walls · 2004
Edition summary
| Year | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Pictures on Walls |
| Medium | Screenprint on paper |
| Signed edition | Reported as 350 |
| Unsigned edition | None recorded |
| Variants | Dark grey and other variants recorded separately |
| Authentication | Buyers and salerooms expect a Pest Control certificate |
Signed only, and a larger run
Gangsta Rat breaks the pattern of the surrounding releases: there is no unsigned edition recorded, and the signed run is reported at 350 rather than the 150 that is usual for the period.
That changes how it should be valued. The absence of an unsigned edition removes the entry tier that most of these images have, so the comparison is between impressions of one edition rather than between two markets — which means condition and variant do almost all of the work in separating one sheet from another.
Variants are the valuation
Dark grey and other variants are recorded separately from the standard release and are scarcer.
Because the image is the same, a photograph of the picture tells you very little. The variant is established from the ink colour on the sheet itself, the numbering, and any marking in the margin, and getting it wrong moves the figure substantially. This is the print in the 2004 group where identification most often goes astray.
The rats generally
The rat runs through the artist's work from the earliest street pieces onward, and there are many rat images, several of them editioned.
Owners frequently describe what they have as a rat print without specifying which, and the rats are not interchangeable — they differ in year, edition size and price by a wide margin. Naming the specific image is the first step.
Before you buy or sell one
- Establish which variant you have from the sheet, not from the image — this is where valuations most often go wrong.
- There is no unsigned edition recorded, so a sheet without a signature needs explaining.
- Name the specific rat image; the rats are numerous and not interchangeable.
- Confirm the Pest Control certificate corresponds to this edition number specifically.
Keep reading
- Girl with Balloon
- Love Is In The Air
- Di-Faced Tenner
- Trolleys (Black and White)
- Trolleys (Colour)
- Rude Copper
- Laugh Now
- Bomb Hugger
- Happy Choppers
- Napalm
- Toxic Mary
- Flying Copper
- Pulp Fiction
- Barcode
- Jack and Jill
- Kate Moss
- Soup Can
- Grin Reaper
- Morons
- Applause
- Sale Ends
- Stop and Search
- Very Little Helps
- Nola
- Choose Your Weapon
- What the reported figures actually show
- Pest Control authentication explained
No work described here is offered for sale. Whitebank Fine Art is an art advisory and gallery, not an auction house, and is not affiliated with Banksy, Pest Control, Pictures on Walls or any auction house. Only Pest Control can authenticate a work by Banksy. Nothing here is investment or legal advice.
Own one? Send photographs of the full sheet and the margin and we will tell you which variant it is.