A rare bronze statuette of Peter Pan, “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up”, is expected to fetch up to £30,000 at auction in Edinburgh this week.
The 20in sculpture, by Sir George Frampton, shows the children’s book character in his famous pose with arms outstretched, playing a pipe.
It was one of only a few reductions cast after the original life-size bronze, commissioned by Kirriemuir-born Peter Pan author JM Barrie, was erected in Kensington Gardens, London, in 1912.
Dated 1915, it will be the star lot at Lyon and Turnbull’s sale on Wednesday.
The statuette, on a green marble base, is expected to attract international bids of between £25,000-30,000.
John Mackie, director and head of decorative arts at the auction house said: “This famous statue is held in great affection all over the world.
“It is the iconic image of the boy who never grew up, and a very beautiful work of art.”
The statuette has been kept in the same Scottish family collection since it was cast in 1920.
The owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “We are sorry to part with this beautiful statue. We hope that it will be as loved by its new owners as much as it was by us.”
The original bronze statue was shown by Frampton in 1911 at the Royal Academy, London.
It appeared the following year in Kensington Gardens without any pre-publicity, as a surprise delight for children.
A brief announcement The Times that day, read: “There is a surprise in store for the children who go to Kensington Gardens to feed the ducks in the Serpentine this morning… a May-day gift by Mr JM Barrie, a figure of Peter Pan blowing his pipe on the stump of a tree, with fairies and mice and squirrels all around.
“It is the work of Sir George Frampton, and the bronze figure of the boy who would never grow up is delightfully conceived.”
It is now one of the best-known monuments in London.
