Well i think a certain Swiss collector might be interested too and no doubt there will be some interest in the States too.

Seeing it for the first time is one of those memories that will stay with me forever. I had sat looking at the drawing for 2 or 3 minutes making the mental connection between the shape of the house and the name of Lamb, both of which were familiar and the cogs were slowly whirring. before my eyes drifted to the bottom left corner, when I made out the letters in the mongram one by one T R R J

I think I said "It's a Tolkien picture" which was a bit daft considering the company at the time! But when i said "It's a Ronald picture" the look on peoples faces was wonderful! We spent the next half an hour trying to convince ourselves that it might not be an original, just a print, but looking at it under magnification showed it was original. The detail in the drawing is fascinating, and it makes a nice pair with the picture JRRT did later of the other side of the house.

Very honoured to have had the chance to see it up close, one of many gems I've been lucky enough to have seen (and touched!) over the last year or so.

On looking up the auction results, I was surprised to see that the picture didn't sell. Does anyone know why?