An Original Winnie-the-Pooh Sketch Found Wrapped in a Tea Towel May Be Worth Up to $38,000

Before Winnie-the-Pooh became the beloved tale we know it as today, the children's book started as a series of sketches featuring its main characters: Pooh and his friends Piglet, Owl, Tigger, Kanga, Roo, and Eeyore. One of those original drawings was recently unearthed from a cellar drawer and is expected to fetch thousands at auction next month.

The illustration, which depicts Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet walking in the Hundred Acre Wood, was drawn on cardstock and signed and dated "E.H. Shepard 1958" in the bottom right hand corner. According to a statement by Dominic Winter Auctioneers, the sketch is an original drawing of the final book illustration from A.A. Milne's first book about Winnie-the-Pooh.

The drawing was recently discovered in the collection of the late Christopher Foyle, the grandson of William Foyle, co-founder of the famed British bookshop Foyles. The drawing was hiding in the back of a cellar drawer and was unearthed by Christopher Foyle's widow, Cathy. It was displayed in a worn down frame and wrapped in an old tea towel. The sketch, which has been neglected for decades, is expected to fetch between $20,000 and $38,000 at auction.

While the drawing's origins are mere speculation, the auction house speculates that it was done for a specific person or event. It's possible that the illustration is tied to one of Christina Foyle's (daughter of William Foyle) famous literary lunches, which hundreds of authors and celebrities attended.

The original drawing of the same scene (featured in the first edition of The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh) was completed in 1925 and was sold by Bonham's for $220,000. It's said that Shepard would draw in pencil before going over the drawing in ink and then rubbing out the pencil. According to Dominic Winter Auctioneers, there are traces of pencil still visible in this drawing.