Ian Ehling
Head of Department
Art, Illustration and Fine Press
Lot 68
THE FINAL ILLUSTRATION OF POOH AND PIGLET IN THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD. SHEPARD, ERNEST H. 1879-1976. Pen and ink on board, "Pooh and Piglet walked home thoughtfully together in the golden evening, and for a long time they were silent," original signed artwork from A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh,
Amended
13 December 2022, 11:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$220,000 inc. premium
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THE FINAL ILLUSTRATION OF POOH AND PIGLET IN THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD.
SHEPARD, ERNEST H. 1879-1976. Pen and ink on board, "Pooh and Piglet walked home thoughtfully together in the golden evening, and for a long time they were silent," original signed artwork from A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, (London: Methuen; New York: E. P. Dutton, 1926), 80 x 135 mm (3 1/8 x 5 5/16 in), on board cut to 266 x 117 mm (10 1/2 x 4 1/2 in), board annotated lightly in pencil by Shepard, "8" and "open it pooh," and "9" and "it's the same thing" in Shepard's hand, with additional pencil notes, signed lower right "EHS," matted and framed.
Provenance: Sporting Gallery, 1928; sold, these rooms, The Art of Illustration, June 22, 2011.
THE FINAL DRAWING OF POOH AND PIGLET IN THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD, ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT WINNIE-THE-POOH DRAWING IN EXISTENCE. Winnie-the-Pooh ends with Pooh and Piglet walking home in the golden evening having said good-bye to their friends in the hundred-acre wood following Christopher Robin's party for Pooh.
After their silence, they continue:
"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.
And thus Christopher Robin and Pooh's time in the Hundred Acre Wood in the original book of Winnie-the-Pooh ends, beneath this charming and poignant illustration. The book briefly continues, ending with the narrator promising to continue more tales of Pooh and friends, "if you wanted it very much." "Pooh does," is Christopher Robin's response. And he walks upstairs to the bath, with Pooh bump-bump-bumping behind him.
Shepard always drew his illustrations first in pencil and finished them in India ink, making alterations as he went along. Then he erased the pencil. One can still see on the drawing in pencil that he originally drew Piglet's arms hanging by his side before deciding on the more endearing gesture of clasping them behind him.
Capturing the beautiful moment just before Pooh and Piglet turn back into ordinary toys, this elegant and wistful drawing represents the last drawing in the Hundred Acre Wood, ending one of the most adored and enduring tales in literature.
Provenance: Sporting Gallery, 1928; sold, these rooms, The Art of Illustration, June 22, 2011.
THE FINAL DRAWING OF POOH AND PIGLET IN THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD, ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT WINNIE-THE-POOH DRAWING IN EXISTENCE. Winnie-the-Pooh ends with Pooh and Piglet walking home in the golden evening having said good-bye to their friends in the hundred-acre wood following Christopher Robin's party for Pooh.
After their silence, they continue:
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.
And thus Christopher Robin and Pooh's time in the Hundred Acre Wood in the original book of Winnie-the-Pooh ends, beneath this charming and poignant illustration. The book briefly continues, ending with the narrator promising to continue more tales of Pooh and friends, "if you wanted it very much." "Pooh does," is Christopher Robin's response. And he walks upstairs to the bath, with Pooh bump-bump-bumping behind him.
Shepard always drew his illustrations first in pencil and finished them in India ink, making alterations as he went along. Then he erased the pencil. One can still see on the drawing in pencil that he originally drew Piglet's arms hanging by his side before deciding on the more endearing gesture of clasping them behind him.
Capturing the beautiful moment just before Pooh and Piglet turn back into ordinary toys, this elegant and wistful drawing represents the last drawing in the Hundred Acre Wood, ending one of the most adored and enduring tales in literature.
Footnotes
Please note that this drawing was exhibited at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, MA, July 1, 2011-January 15, 2012.
"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"
"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
"It's the same thing," he said.
Saleroom notices
Please note that this drawing was exhibited at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst, MA, July 1, 2011-January 15, 2012.