Signed Banksy Colston Four T-shirt sells for £12k at auction

The anonymous artists gave each of the Colston Four a signed shirt

A T-shirt signed by anonymous street artist Banksy has raised £12,000.

It was one of four shirts created especially for each of the people who stood trial over the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston.

The four garments are bespoke versions of the ones sold to the public to show support for the group, who became known as the Colston Four.

"This isn't just a shirt, this is a piece of history," said Jay Goodman-Browne from East Bristol Auctions Ltd.

"The toppling of the Edward Colston statue is regarded by some as one of the defining events of the last decade and this shirt - one of only four made - encapsulates that event."

Although the public sale of the Banksy Colston T-shirt was well-publicised, it was not revealed at the time that Banksy had also created a customised T-shirt for each of the four defendants and presented them personally at a secret location.

The colours on the four special shirts were reversed compared to the ones sold to the public

The four shirts differ to the ones sold to the public in that the colours are reversed and each of them has been signed by the artist.

A spokesman for East Bristol Auctions Ltd, which has not revealed which of the Colston Four sold their T-shirt for contractual reasons, said it was sold to a collector who took part in the auction on Saturday by phone.

Banksy revealed the design of the shirts in an Instagram post on 21 December ahead of them going on sale at various locations around Bristol the weekend before the trial began.

Large queues formed when the T-shirts went on public sale

Milo Ponsford, left, Sage Willoughby, second left, Jake Skuse, second right (in mask), and Rhian Graham, right, were cleared of criminal damage

All proceeds from the T-shirts were to go "to the defendants so they can go for a pint", the artist said at the time.

Jake Skuse, Rhian Graham, Milo Ponsford and Sage Willoughby were cleared of criminal damage at the trial.

They took part in the toppling of the statue during a Black Lives Matter protest following the death of George Floyd in the US.