THE “last ever” drawing of Winnie-the-Pooh by his illustrator has been found wrapped in a tea towel, and could sell for up to £30,000.
The “grubby framed” sketch of Pooh and Piglet was discovered in the cellar of Christopher Foyle’s historic Beeleigh Abbey home.
It is dated 1958 and signed E.H. Shepard, the artist who drew the illustrations for A. A. Milne’s 1926 book Winnie-the-Pooh.
The original drawings have sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds, but now what could be his last ever Pooh sketch is on sale.
It was discovered wrapped in a tea towel in a cellar drawer and forms part of a sale of more than 10,000 books and other items from late Christopher's library.
Auctioneers say it could be the last sketch of Pooh that Shepard did, possibly at an annual event known as Foyles Literary Lunches.
Created by Christina Foyle, daughter of Foyles bookshops founder William, the first lunch was held in 1930 in response to customers’ demand to meet famous authors.
The drawing was found by Christopher's widow, Cathy Foyle, and bookseller Matthew Butler.
Chris Albury, of Dominic Winter Auctioneers, said Mr Shepard, then 79, may have done the sketch for one of the events.
''This drawing was recently discovered in the library and effects of the late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey, near Maldon in Essex,” he said.
“Rather than proudly on display on a wall, it was in a cheap frame with tape across the glass and wrapped in an old tea towel at the back of a cellar drawer.
“We see reproductions of this famous drawing from time to time which have no value so I was shocked to see that this was unmistakably an original, even through the dusty, taped glass.
''It’s not in the same league as the original drawing made for the book in the 1920s but it is identical and the only other one of the same illustration to have apparently come on the market, so we are confident that £20,000-30,000 will be an attractive estimate.”
He added: “It’s a fantastically poignant image that means so much to so many adults and children nearly a century after first publication.”
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