An first watercolour illustration has grow to be the most precious Harry Potter item at any time bought – fetching $1.9m (£1.5m) at auction in the US.

The artwork for the 1st edition of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone sold for far more than 3 situations the predicted value.

It was to start with auctioned in 2001, just before the book sequence was finish, for £85,750 (about $108,000 at present-day trade fees).

“This is really the 1st visualization of Harry and the wizarding entire world,” reported Kalika Sands from Sotheby’s auction house.

The artwork had been expected to sell for concerning $400,000 and $600,000, which Sotheby’s said was the highest pre-sale estimate for a Harry Potter-linked get the job done.

It took just about 10 minutes for the 4-way bidding to end on Wednesday. The id of the buyer was not unveiled.

The artist driving the illustration, Thomas Taylor, was only 23 many years old in 1997 when he developed the iconic graphic of Harry Potter standing in front of the Hogwarts Categorical – the teach that would direct the youthful bespectacled wizard into the magical world.

It was completed working with concentrated watercolours with black pencil outlines and took him two days to end.

Mr Taylor, who grew up in Wales, was a single of the initially people to study the manuscript for the primary Harry Potter reserve, which went on to promote tens of millions of copies and spawned a beneficial franchise including videos and topic parks.

Ms Sands claimed the big difference in auction price involving 2001, when only four of the seven guides in the series were being published, and now mirrored just how well known author Rowling’s creation had develop into.

“In the intervening decades, it is been amazing to see just the summary of Harry’s tale, but also how the Harry Potter franchise has taken off, and in that time, new generations have appear to take pleasure in Harry and his journey as effectively.”