Pooh sketch makes $50,000

An oval pencil drawing of Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet, by E. H. Shepard, is seen in this undated handout photograph, received in London, on 4 November 2008.

4 November 2008

LONDON– An original drawing of A.A. Milne's popular children's characters Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger and Piglet fetched 31,200 pounds ($50,000) at auction on Tuesday.

The amount, which includes a 20 percent buyer's premium, comfortably beat pre-sale expectations of up to 20,000 pounds, not including the premium.

The oval pencil sketch by E.H. Shepard, one of children's literature's most famous illustrators, shows Pooh dipping his paw into a pot of honey while sitting at a table as Piglet and Tigger look on.

Auctioneer Bonhams said the successful telephone bidder was from Germany and bought the picture for his wife, a long-time Pooh fan.

On the same day, Sotheby's announced it was offering what it called the finest single collection of Shepard's original drawings for the Pooh books to be sold at auction.

The sale in London on December 17, which also includes a selection of rare Milne books, is expected to fetch 650-930,000 pounds.

The illustrations, from the collections of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone, are among the most recognizable, including "He went on tracking, and Piglet ... ran after him" depicting Pooh and Piglet turning to each other as they walk away.

It is expected to fetch 40-60,000 pounds.

Also on offer is "Bump, bump, bump - going up the stairs" featuring Christopher Robin dragging his bear by the leg up the stairs beside him. It is valued at 50-70,000 pounds.

Earlier in 2008, Sotheby's set a record for the work of an illustrator at auction when Beatrix Potter's watercolor illustration for the final scene of "The Rabbits' Christmas Party" sequence went under the hammer for 289,250 pounds.

The drawing on sale at Bonhams was a larger version of an illustration entitled "Tiggers don't like honey" which appeared in Milne's "The House at Pooh Corner," one of four books he wrote about the bear in the 1920s.

Other works by Shepard on sale at Bonhams included a first sketch for Kenneth Grahame's "Wind in the Willows," depicting Rat and Mole lounging with a picnic on the riverbank.

It appeared in the published book with the caption: "Now pitch in, old fellow! and the Mole was indeed very glad to obey" and fetched 7,440 pounds, including premium.

Commentary:
Even as old as I am, I am still an avid enjoyer of this silly old bear, known most famously as ‘Winnie the Pooh; because these stories always gave a sense of warm happiness and sometimes a little moral about life, dipped in honey here and there.

Nevertheless, items from this loveable bear being sold at auction for such a price, is actually not surprising. Stories like this about such a loveable old bear, still warms the heart; young or old.

I will even admit I have a copy of the original Pooh on my bedroom dresser, a little worn; but still wonderful. When Hurricane Katrina was coming, he was put in the car along with necessities. What he further reminded me of, is when I found him it was on a day I was going though a period of very great sadness; which every time I saw this Pooh bear I seemed to cheer-up, so one understands, this the time of my first husband's dying and becoming a Martyr.

Even to today, when I think or see that old Pooh bear on my bedroom dresser; I feel happiness, not sorrow. With a bit of an uplift, that gives a foreseeable smile of hope; that just happened to come at a very hard time for me and smiling thinking of honey, for my tea and bread.

If people wonder why I did not learn of Winnie the Pooh until I got older, was because I did not get to read the stories when I was younger like most children and had always wished too; which sometimes in my life, I have had to make-up for the wonderful thing’s people normally got to do, that I couldn’t.