Two long-overlooked watercolors tied to Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” have resurfaced from a family home and promptly rewritten expectations at auction, selling for far beyond their presale estimates.
The works — “Mowgli and Bagheera” by British illustrator Edward Julius Detmold (1883–1957) and “The Cold Lairs” by his twin brother, British illustrator Charles Maurice Detmold (1883–1908) — were offered by Roseberys, where bidding underscored how seldom original material from the project appears on the market.
“The level of bidding reflects just how rarely works of this importance appear on the market,” Lara L’vov-Basirov of Roseberys said in a statement. She added that presenting two of the seven known surviving original watercolors from the “Jungle Book” series was “exceptional,” and that collectors “immediately recognized their significance both as works of art and as part of the visual history of Kipling’s most famous book.”
Created on commission for publisher Macmillan & Co., the watercolors were made for a deluxe, limited-edition portfolio titled “Sixteen Illustrations of Subjects From Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book.’” The Detmolds produced 16 works plus a frontispiece for the project, but only six original works are known to survive — a scarcity that helps explain the intensity of the sale.
The stronger result came from Edward Detmold’s “Mowgli and Bagheera,” signed “EJD,” which depicts the young protagonist seated beside his guardian, the black panther Bagheera. The composition hinges on contrast: Mowgli’s slight figure set against the animal’s taut, coiled presence, with the panther’s body modeled in layered, textured washes. The work realized £93,840 ($125,810), landing at more than four times its high estimate.
Maurice Detmold’s “The Cold Lairs,” signed “M DETMOLD,” shows monkeys gathered on a platform above the ruins of Bandar-log, with dense foliage and scattered fruit lending the scene a lush, almost theatrical stillness. It sold for £36,640 ($49,125).
For the family who had lived with the drawings for decades, the market’s response arrived as a surprise. “These drawings were never treated as ‘important’ works in our family — they were simply part of our home,” they said in a statement. “Finding out that they restore a missing piece of the visual history of Kipling’s The Jungle Book has been completely unexpected.” After the sale, the family added: “We are absolutely delighted with these results. We’ve cherished these works in our family home for decades and we hope that the next custodians enjoy them as much as we have.”
The Detmolds’ story is as dramatic as the imagery they produced. Born in 1883, the twins were celebrated prodigies, first exhibiting at the Royal Academy at age 13 and securing the “Jungle Book” commission five years later. The project brought them wide attention, but it also marked their last major collaboration: Maurice died by suicide in 1908 at age 25. Edward continued to build a successful career in book illustration, particularly admired for depictions of the natural world, before dying by suicide in 1957 at age 73.
Over time, the Macmillan portfolio helped fix Kipling’s characters in the public imagination. So prized were the images that many owners broke up the set to frame individual plates, making intact portfolios scarce today. One complete copy is held by the Library of Congress — a reminder that, for collectors and institutions alike, surviving originals from the series occupy a narrow and highly contested corner of the market.
