Noddy sale raises thousands

Noddy: Appearing in a BBC promotional video

Noddy lovers took advantage of their final chance on Tuesday to bid for original artwork from the world-famous series of children's books.

Auctioneers Sotheby's held a second sale from the Noddy archive which included illustrations from the 1950s.

The sale in London attracted strong interest as it was the last opportunity for the general public en masse to buy work by Noddy's visual creator, the Dutch illustrator Harmsen Van Der Beek.

The auction fetched £137,425 when 363 historic items of the Enid Blyton creation -which spawned 24 books since 1949 - went under the hammer.

More than 200 million copies of the adventures of the wooden taxi driver have been sold worldwide and they remain popular with children today.

Art sale

The first auction of Noddy art, in October, 1997, raised £350,000 for parent company Enid Blyton Limited, which was double the pre-sale estimate.

At Tuesday's sale, more than 360 drawings of the Toyland taxi driver and his friends, such as Big-Ears and Mr Plod, were up for grabs.

A sketch called Big Ears Waded Out To Noddy, Pulled Him Up And Carried Him To Shore was the biggest seller, fetching £3,220.

Other sketches such as "Oh Big Ears I'm Frightened" Cried Noddy sold for £1,955, There Was Noddy Lying In The Water went for £1,725 and The Milkman Tapped On Noddy's Head And Made It Nod sold for £1,437.

The sale included watercolours from four volumes, Well Done Noddy, Noddy Goes To School, Noddy At The Seaside and The New Big Noddy Book, all illustrated by Van Den Beek between 1952 and 1954.

There were also 27 works from Noddy Meets Father Christmas, the 11th Noddy library published in 1955.

Catherine Porter, Sotheby's specialist in children's books, said before the sale: "Most of the calls we have had are from ordinary members of the public rather than dealers.

"They seem to be after one or two drawings out of simple sentimentality because they say Noddy reminds them of their childhood."