Winnie the Pooh sets new auction records at Sotheby’s
By Ed | December 25th, 2008 | Category: Market Research | No Comments »
Winnie-the-Pooh is possibly the world’s best loved bear. If any readers don’t love the “tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff” then now’s the time to hit the back button on your browser.
Apparently somebody loves him a whole lot.
An auction record was set at Sotheby’s, last Wednesday, when a collection of E.H. Shepard’s original drawings for A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books sold for approximately £1.3 million ($2 million USD), well above the estimated sale amount.
Shepard’s drawing “He went on tracking, and Piglet … ran after him,” also sold at more than double the estimated sales price at £115,250 – a record sales amount for a drawing by a British artist.
The popular image of Christopher Robin dragging Pooh by the leg up the stairs, bumped bidders up to the final sales price of £97,250. Again, the final sale price beat expectations.
These sales amounts are a bit surprising given the recent downturn in the fine art market.
Perhaps comfort can be found in cuddly teddy bears after all – such interest in original artists drawings and paintings should not over-enthuse online sellers though. Unless you have orginal author signed, and/or first edition copies of the books and artworks, prices are expected to continue to be muted because of the global economy.
Ed
