Maldon District: Ultra rare Winnie the Pooh drawing discovered at Beeleigh Abbey could sell for up to £30,000 at auction
The "last ever" drawing of 'Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet walked home' by illustrator E.H. Shepard has been found at Beeleigh Abbey near Maldon, wrapped in a tea towel.
The "grubby" framed sketch of the famous scene was discovered in the cellar of Christopher Foyle, former chairman of Foyles bookshops.
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 and Piglet sketch is on sale.
It will form part of a sale of more than 10,000 books and other items from the late Christopher Foyle's library.
He was the grandson of William Foyle, co-founder of the famous Foyles bookshop with his brother Gilbert. William amassed a huge library until his death in 1963. It was famously sold by Christie's in 2001 for £12.6 million, after the death of his daughter Christina.
Christopher was Christina's nephew and bought a lot of the books before they went on sale, adding to the collection in the same library at Beeleigh Abbey over the next 20 years.
Auctioneers say it could be the last sketch that Shepard did of the famous Pooh and Piglet "walking home thoughtfully together in the golden evening" - possibly at an annual event known as 'Foyles Literary Lunches'.
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The drawing was found by Christopher's widow, Cathy Foyle, and bookseller Matthew Butler.
Chris Albury, of Dominic Winter Auctioneers, says Shepard, then 79, may have done the sketch for one of the events.
He said: "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 illustrations to have apparently come on the market so we are confident that £20,000 to 30,000 will be an attractive estimate.
The items from the library will go under the hammer Dominic Winter Auctioneers on September 27, and on 31 January 2024.
Shepard died in 1976 aged 96. Christopher Foyle died in August last year.
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