A spray paint stencil by renowned graffiti artist JPS will be going under the hammer at a Cotswolds auction, under the watchful eye of television personality David Dickinson.
'The Duke' and his team will be filming an episode of the popular TV show Dickinson's Real Deal at the sale rooms of Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester on Friday, October 12 with the stencil on canvas one of the featured lots.
Moore Allen's auctioneer and valuer Philip Allwood joined David in Weston-super-Mare at the beginning of September for preliminary filming.
Owners with items to sell were invited to bring them in for valuation. If chosen to be contestants on the show, they could accept an on-the-spot cash offer from an antiques dealer, or choose to take their chances at auction.
Filming took place at The Tropicana, a derelict lido that three years ago played host to a huge alternative art exhibition called Dismaland, curated by world famous street artist Banksy.
When a member of the public brought in a three-foot-square orange canvas sprayed with an image of Freddy Krueger from the cult 1980s horror movie franchise A Nightmare on Elm Street it was initially hoped that the show had discovered a Banksy.
But experts from Moore Allen quickly identified the stencil as the work of JPS, whose murals can be seen around the seaside town.
Philip said: "JPS is well known for his pop culture-inspired, pun-laden stencils, and A Nightmare to Remove – featuring Freddy Krueger – is one of his best-known pieces.
"While we were filming, our graffiti art expert was talking to JPS himself via social media. After some head-scratching from the artist, we were able to establish that he'd painted it way back in 2010 – at the start of his career.
"The Freddy portrait was an early version of what would become his famous Nightmare stencil, while the TV in which the villain's face appears was added by another artist."
JPS was inspired to paint by Banksy, and while the Bristolian has a far bigger profile, original stencils on canvas by his Weston-super-Mare counterpart retail at £700 to £900.
The vendor told producers he saved the piece from being thrown in a skip. The auctioneers offered an estimate of £100 to £150. Philip said: "I wouldn't be surprised if it made more on the day."
Other lots in the Real Deal haul include a Beanie Babies teddy bear signed by the cast of the Harry Potter movies, including Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), and Robbie Coltrane (Rubeus Hagrid). The bear will be sold alongside a paperback copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, also signed by cast members. Bids of £150 to £200 are expected.
Meanwhile a football signed by Brazilian soccer legend Pelé, along with a copy of the book Fifty Years of the European Cup and the Champions League (2005), signed by Phil Neal, Trevor Francis, Teddy Sheringham, Bobby Charlton and others carries an estimate of £100 to £150.
A watercolour in the Pre-Raphaelite manner by the English artist Thomas Matthews Rooke (1842–1942) could prove quite a find. Measuring 44.5cms by 57.5cms, The last Judgement, inspired by a painting of the same name by the Renaissance artist Fra Angelico, could make in the region of £3,000.
And it wouldn't have been a trip to a traditional British seaside resort without picking up something risqué, but no-one was expecting to see a collection of nearly 300 glamour magazines, dating from the 1960s and early 1970s.
Titles like Charm, Breezy, Beautiful Britons, 66, Pin-Up, and Carnival have been lost to the mists of time, and the collection could be snapped up for £100 to £150 – if anyone is brave enough to make a bid on national television.
"You have to admire the creativeness of publishers who called their dirty magazines 'Spick' and 'Span'," said Philip.
"The collection is fairly tame by modern standards, although there are some topless photographs. And for anyone too shy to place a bid in person there is always – of course – online bidding."
Joining David 'The Duke' Dickinson will be a large collection vinyl records, books and magazines concerning jazz legend Duke Ellington. A bid of £200 to £300 should secure the lot.
A full auction catalogue is available online at www.mooreallen.co.uk
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