Tintin and the €1.3m jackpot

DOUBLE-page art from King Ottokar’s Sceptre has fetched the highest-ever price for a Hergé drawing, €307,800.

The pencil drawing was the top-selling item in a Paris sale of memorabilia of the Belgian author and illustrator.

Auctioneer Eric Leroy said the drawing reached such a price because it comes from a “legendary” album.

“What’s more, there is a craze for Tintin that is only going to increase with films on the way next year.

“It is the benchmark for the 9th Art: whether you are a child of five or an adult, its universal. The storytelling is extraordinary. We all enjoy the adventure and heroism and the hero’s straightforward, pure character.”

The auction on the Champs-Elysées made €1.3 million, with other top prices including €35,000 for a 1942 eition of the Cigars of the Pharaoh.

On the same weekend, a sale at the Chateau de Cheverny, which inspired Marlinspike Hall in the books, raised the most ever for a model of a Hergé character: €6,630 for a resin statue of Tintin.