Wizard! Unseen sketch of Harry Potter meeting a Hippogriff goes under the hammer (and it's set to sell for £10k)



An unseen sketch of Harry Potter meeting the mythical Hippogriff has been discovered 10 years after being drawn is set to sell for more than £10,000.

The one-of-a-kind drawing by former Potter illustrator Cliff Wright, who designed the front covers for books two and three in the series, shows the wizard holding hands with the creature.

The Hippogriff, a cross between a horse, lion and eagle, first swooped into Harry's adventures in the third book of the series, Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban.

Rare: The unseen sketch worth at least £10,000 features a note written to a friend in Canada, which says: 'To Louis Charles, all best wishes from Cliff'

The Sussex based artist refused to illustrate the fourth book after his original front and back cover artwork for Azkaban was lost by a design studio, meaning this drawing could be one of his last.

Experts estimate the 2002 sketch could sell for a five-figure sum.

Antique dealers Art Of The Imagination are selling the drawing at the Antiques for Everyone Fair at the end of the month.

Magic: A young Daniel Radcliffe, as Harry Potter

Mike Emeny, from Art Of The Imagination, said: 'There are an incredibly limited number of Harry Potter drawings and paintings because they have not been made into story books.

'Mainly it's just the artwork made to preview and promote the books, but that is all so closely controlled by rights it's almost impossible for collectors to get hold of them.

'This sketch is extremely rare - when Cliff finished his association with the Harry Potter series he stopped doing any drawings.

'Therefore, we would expect this to sell for around £10,000, but it could be a lot more.

'He did it for a friend of his from Canada but its ended up in our hands a decade later.

'Any Potter fan would love to get their hands on this item and there is a lot of excitement around it already. It would make a fantastic part of any collection.'

The sketch is being sold at the Antiques for Everyone Fair at the Birmingham NEC, which runs from October 27 to 30.

Antiques for Everyone is the UK's largest antair with more than 300 specialist dealers exhibiting more than 100,000 items.



