An original watercolour illustration for the first edition of JK Rowling's “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” has become the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold, fetching $1.9 million at auction in the United States.
The artwork, created by Thomas Taylor in 1997, sold for more than three times its expected price at Sotheby's auction house. It was initially auctioned in 2001 for £85,750 (about $108,000 today).
“This is really the first visualisation of Harry and the wizarding world,” said Kalika Sands from Sotheby's. The pre-sale estimate for the artwork was between $400,000 and $600,000, the highest ever for a Harry Potter-related work.
The auction saw a four-way bidding battle lasting nearly 10 minutes, with the buyer's identity remaining undisclosed. Taylor, who was 23 when he painted the illustration, depicted Harry Potter standing in front of the Hogwarts Express. The illustration was done using concentrated watercolours with black pencil outlines and took two days to complete.
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Taylor, who grew up in Wales, was among the first to read the manuscript for the original Harry Potter book. The series went on to sell millions of copies and spawned a lucrative franchise including movies and theme parks.
Sands noted the significant increase in the artwork's auction price since 2001, reflecting the immense popularity of Rowling's creation. “In the intervening decades, it's been extraordinary to see the conclusion of Harry's story and how the franchise has taken off, with new generations coming to appreciate Harry and his journey.”
