Original Winnie-the-Pooh drawing sells for S$650,000
An original Winnie-the-Pooh ink drawing by E. H. Shepard was sold at an auction in London on Tuesday for a record-breaking £314,500 (S$650,000).
The sale of the drawing of Pooh, Christopher Robin and Piglet playing “poohsticks” broke the world record for any book illustration sold at Sotheby’s auction house.
The drawing shows the trio standing on a bridge looking expectantly into the river below.
In the story, Pooh invents the game “poohsticks” in which he and his friends throw sticks over one side of the bridge and wait for them to appear on the other.
The drawing,which has become one of the most famous book illustrations of its time, was first published in author A. A. Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner in 1928.
Photo: Egmont Books
It has since been used on the front of many editions of the popular children’s book.
The auction house described it as “probably the most famous and evocative book illustration of the 20th century”.
The auction record for a Shepard drawing was just under £140,000, while the record for a book illustration was previously £290,000.
Sotheby’s sold the work in 1971 and 1974. The signed original has since been in a private collection.
Mr Philip Errington, director of Sotheby’s book department, said: "Back in 1974 it sold for a few hundred pounds, certainly below the thousand mark, so this is an indication in how the market in book illustrations has just soared recently."
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