Lost Original Jungle Book Illustrations, Rediscovered in London Home, Head to Auction

*Note to journalists: Since Roseberys released this news, a further original watercolour has come to light at Bateman's, East Sussex. This brings the total of known original watercolours to seven, as opposed to six, two of which are now in the Collection of the National Trust. The body of the press release has been updated to accommodate this fact.  

Two original watercolour illustrations for Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, long thought lost, have been rediscovered and will be offered at auction in London this March.

Extraordinarily rare, they increase the number of known surviving originals from a set of 16 to just seven.

London auctioneers Roseberys will offer both works for sale on March 10, with estimates of £15,000-20,000 each.

The drawings, which depict scenes from The Jungle Book, had been hanging unrecognised on the walls of a London family home for decades.

The revelation has astounded the owners of the two watercolours: “These drawings were never treated as ‘important’ works in our family - they were simply part of our home,” they explained. “Finding out that they restore a missing piece of the visual history of Kipling’s The Jungle Book, has been completely unexpected.”

The watercolours were created in 1902/3 for Sixteen Illustrations of Subjects from Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’, a deluxe portfolio commissioned by Macmillan & Co in 1903.

Reportedly limited to 500 copies, the 1903 portfolio was published separately from the book itself, which had been first published in 1894. The original edition collected stories that Kipling had previously published in magazines in 1893-4, and included illustrations from the author’s father amongst other artists.

In 1908, the first standard printed edition of The Jungle Book incorporating the Detmold illustrations within the book format (bound with text) was published by Macmillan. This edition contained the 16 plates and a frontispiece illustrated by the Detmold twins.

Because the plates were often removed and framed individually, complete 1903 portfolios are now extremely rare. Among other institutions, a copy is held by the Library of Congress.

Rarer still are the original watercolours produced for the project. Before this discovery, only four were known to survive, now split between private collections, the Natural History Museum and the National Trust.

One of them, The Return of the Buffalo Herd, is on display at Bateman’s in East Sussex, Kipling’s former home (National Trust).

Both works were exhibited in 1903 at The Dutch Gallery, London in 'An Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings. Illustrations to Rudyard Kipling’s "Jungle Book", etc. By Maurice and Edward Detmold’.

The two newly rediscovered works were produced by the twin artistic prodigies Edward Detmold (1883-1957) and Charles Maurice Detmold (1883-1908), known as Maurice, and were published when they were just 20. It proved to be their final joint venture, as Maurice tragically took his own life aged 25.

The first of the two watercolours depicts Mowgli and Bagheera and is by Edward Detmold, signed ‘EJD’. It shows the young protagonist alongside the black panther Bagheera, rendered with fine linear detail and controlled washes.

The second, The Cold Lairs, is by Maurice Detmold and signed ‘M DETMOLD’. It depicts the ruined city of the Bandar-log, the monkey people, combining intricate jungle foliage with animated animal forms that reflect the brothers’ close observation of the natural world.

The precocious Detmolds won the commission aged just 18, having already exhibited at the Royal Academy aged just 13.

Their interpretation helped shape the public image of Kipling’s characters and settings until Disney’s 1967 animation created a new visual tradition.

Rudyard Kipling was the first English language author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, awarded in 1907 when he was 41, a record that still stands.

“If you consider how rare the printed versions of these illustrations are, because they were treated as works of art and framed, breaking up the portfolios in the process, to be able to bid for two of the seven known surviving original watercolours is a vanishingly rare opportunity,” said Lara L’vov-Basirov, Roseberys’ Head of Old Master, British & European Pictures.

“It is difficult to convey just how big their impact was when they were first published, with the portfolio making headline reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, and the Manchester Guardian reviewer singling out both of the individual watercolours we have here for particular praise.”

High res images available for editorial use here. Please credit Roseberys.
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Operating in London for more than 30 years, Roseberys Fine Art Auctioneers is a privately owned specialist fine art and antiques auction house and valuers, located in the heart of South London.

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In addition to hosting over 30 specialist auctions annually, Roseberys offers single-owner collection sales. Recent highlights include the Mary & Alan Hobart Collection (founders of Pyms Gallery), an Important Private Collection of Chinese Imperial Porcelain and The George Farrow Collection.