The drawing is one of the most famous of the fictional bear and had been in private hands for 40 years
A familiar image of Winnie the Pooh as he played pooh sticks with Piglet and Christopher Robin has sold at auction for more than £300,000.
The illustration by EH Shepard, first published in 1928 and one of the most famous images of Pooh, had been in a private collection for more than 40 years.
It had been expected to fetch between £100,000 and £150,000 but finally went for £314,500 – including buyer’s premium – at the sale in London by auction house Sotheby’s.
Shephard’s ink drawing featured in Chapter 6 of AA Milne’s book The House at Pooh Corner, “in which Pooh invents a new game and Eeyore joins in”.
It accompanies the closing scene of the chapter where the three characters stand on the “Poohsticks” bridge as the mood changes from the high excitement of their new game to a more wistful atmosphere.
“For a long time they looked at the river beneath them, saying nothing, and the river said nothing too, for it felt very quiet and peaceful on this summer afternoon,” Milne wrote.
Sotheby’s said: “The illustration can be counted among the most familiar, and most loved, cultural references in English literature.”
The original wooden crossing on which the illustration is based – known as Posingford Bridge, at Hartfield Farm, Sussex – had fallen into disrepair by the 1970s.
It was carefully restored and reopened by Christopher Milne, the author’s son who inspired the character of Christopher Robin, in May 1979 at a ceremony where it was called “as important a bridge as any in the world”. It was completely rebuilt in 1999.
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The illustration by EH Shepard, first published in 1928 and one of the most famous images of Pooh, had been in a private collection for more than 40 years.
It had been expected to fetch between £100,000 and £150,000 but finally went for £314,500 – including buyer’s premium – at the sale in London by auction house Sotheby’s.
Shephard’s ink drawing featured in Chapter 6 of AA Milne’s book The House at Pooh Corner, “in which Pooh invents a new game and Eeyore joins in”.
It accompanies the closing scene of the chapter where the three characters stand on the “Poohsticks” bridge as the mood changes from the high excitement of their new game to a more wistful atmosphere.
“For a long time they looked at the river beneath them, saying nothing, and the river said nothing too, for it felt very quiet and peaceful on this summer afternoon,” Milne wrote.
Sotheby’s said: “The illustration can be counted among the most familiar, and most loved, cultural references in English literature.”
The original wooden crossing on which the illustration is based – known as Posingford Bridge, at Hartfield Farm, Sussex – had fallen into disrepair by the 1970s.
It was carefully restored and reopened by Christopher Milne, the author’s son who inspired the character of Christopher Robin, in May 1979 at a ceremony where it was called “as important a bridge as any in the world”. It was completely rebuilt in 1999.
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