I purchased limited-edition Paddington print for £30 signed by creator Michael Bond – is it price £1k? DAN HATFIELD replies

On a recent charity shop rummage in an affluent London borough, not too far from Paddington in fact, I spotted a rather lovely print titled ‘Out for the Day’.

My daughter is Paddington obsessed – especially with the books, the recent cartoon series and films.

I had a look and decided it was in great condition. Upon closer inspection, it is signed by the author himself Michael Bond. 

Needless to say, for £29.99, I thought it was worth a punt given I knew my daughter would love it whether it’s worth a small fortune or not.

On the back of the frame, it reveals it is one of 495 Peggy Fortnum (the original illustrator) prints and is stamped by the Arts Trade Guild.

That got me excited and I found one similar one online from a few years ago priced at £600 which says is sold – and another on a US website for $800. 

I reckon it could now be worth closer to £1,000, especially as Paddington is bang on trend. Am I right? Lewis, via email.

Dan Hatfield, our resident valuation expert, replies: The new Paddington in Peru movie has clearly piqued the nostalgic nerve in you all as my inbox is bursting with enquiries about Paddington collectibles. 

It’s what makes this column a joy for me, exploring Modern Treasures, between the antiques of my day-to-day working life.

Last week, I valued a 50-year old Paddington stuffed toy. This week, I’ve been sent a print and it’s certainly an attractive one. 

It really captures the essence of Paddington and I feel our friend from Peru coming alive in this. 

And that’s no surprise because it was drawn by Peggy Fortnum who was the first person to draw Paddington and went on to illustrate all the novels that Michael Bond had penned.

This is one of three prints created with a limited run of 495 per piece. They were produced in 1997 and sold in the very upmarket department store, Selfridges. 

These pieces have the stamp of the Fine Arts Trade Guild, an organisation established in 1847 to ensure exacting standards are adhered to when it comes to prints. 

With this stamp we can prove that the print was produced with high standards and quality materials.

I’m intrigued that Bond has signed the print as it’s extremely rare to find his signature on something other than his books. 

It made it difficult to go through the Rolodex of prices I store in my head – it required some old fashioned detective work.

I know you mention that you’ve spotted a couple of past sales that estimate the price for these prints at £600. 

I’ve done some further digging but can’t confirm the date of these sales and there isn’t any clarity that the £600 they were advertised for, is even the price that they secured. 

The websites where you discovered these listings though, are ones that are known in the industry for doubling, tripling or even quadrupling a realistic price you should expect to pay. 

These websites unfortunately have rather extravagant operators who seem to get a little number happy when setting price points. 

It’s also worth noting that Bond passed away in 2017, so any sales around this period would have been inflated due to his death.

I also need to point out this is a print and while it is a limited edition, it isn’t an original. 

I love the author’s name is on it but for £500 you could have recently bought an original watercolour of Paddington drawn by Fortnum herself. 

Right now, you can even buy Paddington books signed by Bond for as little as £20.

While I was researching these prints to ascertain a realistic price for you, I did find proof of a sale of all three of these prints on eBay in 2015 for £295. 

That said, prices will have increased since then due to inflation, the passing of the author and the aforementioned sale didn’t include frames. 

Then we have to consider other events over the years which will have increased Paddington’s value. He had tea with Her late Majesty and his third film has just had its premiere – he is certainly more popular than ever before.

All in all, it’s is a tricky one to value. I would love to agree with your valuation of £1,000 but my research and instincts tell me that nostalgia may have impressed upon you with such an optimistic price. 

Unfortunately, the £600 you saw on that book selling site a few years ago if likely to be a little too inflated also. 

Ultimately, I believe a realistic price point for this piece is between £200 to £300. 

Don’t forget that while I believe this valuation to be a true reflection of the market value and quality of the print, for the right collector, there is always the potential to secure a lot more for it. 

Let’s also remind ourselves that you only paid £30 for the print, so securing the top end of my valuation could see a ten-fold return on your money which will buy plenty of marmalade. 

This leaves me with just one question… can I have the name and address of the charity shop in question?