Original 1939 Tintin drawing sold for €505,000

The colour drawing, which measures 20.5cm x 21cm, was originally featured in a story named Le Sceptre d'Ottokar, published in the “Petit Vingtième” journal supplement in 1939, explains French news source FranceInfo.

It shows the iconic character, Tintin, accompanied by his dog Milou (known in English as “Snowy”), being escorted through a royal palace in the fictional kingdom of Syldavia.

Created with Indian ink and watercolour paint, the drawing was estimated to go for between €600,000 and €800,000, and finally sold for €505,000 on Saturday November 18.

The covers of the Petit Vingtieme supplement - which came with the Belgian journal Le Vingtième Siècle - are some of the most sought-after Tintin drawings in existence.

The auction took place at the Artcurial auction house, as part of a “Universe of the Tintin Creator” sale, which also included rare albums, and objects such as lithographs, figurines, posters, and toys.

“The original works of Tintin are becoming more and more rare at auction, especially those from the years 1930-1940,” explained Eric Leroy, comic book expert at Artcurial, speaking to France Info.

“Collectors are more and more interested in drawings that were published before being gathered together in an album.”

Hergé holds many records for original comic book sales. One double page spread of Tintin was sold for €2.6 million in 2014, also at Artcurial, while a drawing taken from the album “Explorers on the Moon” went for €1.55 million in November 2016.