Original Watercolor of Harry Potter Cover Breaks Record in Sotheby's Auction

A historic moment was witnessed on June 26, 2024, as Sotheby's New York held an auction that shattered all previous records for Harry Potter memorabilia. The original watercolor illustration for the cover of J.K. Rowling's debut novel, Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, became the most expensive piece of Potter paraphernalia ever sold at auction.

The Iconic Illustration

The illustration, created by the artist Thomas Taylor, captured the imagination of bidders as they vied for this piece of literary history. Taylor, at the young age of 23, painted the iconic image of Harry Potter on Platform 9¾, waiting for the Hogwarts Express. Using concentrated watercolors on cold-pressed watercolor paper with black pencil, the artist completed the painting in just two days, giving life to the bespectacled boy hero of the wizarding world.

The auction at Sotheby's New York saw a riveting four-way bidding battle that lasted close to 10 minutes. This intense competition culminated in the illustration being sold for a staggering $1.9 million, almost four times the expected amount, which was between $400,000 and $600,000.

Kalika Sands from Sotheby's expressed her awe at the final auction price, emphasizing that it demonstrated the enduring popularity of Rowling's creation. She remarked, "In the intervening decades, it's been extraordinary to see not just the conclusion of Harry's story, but also how the Harry Potter franchise has taken off, and in that time, new generations have come to appreciate Harry and his journey as well."

Previous Records Shattered

This sale eclipsed the previous record held by a first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was sold for $421,000 at Heritage Auctions in Dallas in 2021. Sotheby's described the pre-sale estimate of Taylor's illustration as the "highest pre-sale estimate ever placed on an item of any Harry Potter-related work."