Harry Potter Original Book Illustration Sells for Record $1.9M at Auction

An original watercolor illustration from a first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has become the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold after an unknown buyer won it for $1.9 million at an auction this week.

Per BBC, the watercolor illustration by artist Thomas Taylor sold for $1.9 million ($1.5 million U.K. pounds) in a four-way bidding war that took about 10 minutes on Wednesday, June 26 at Sotheby's auction house in New York City.

It was originally expected to sell for between $400,000 and $600,000, per Sotheby's — the highest estimated price for a piece of artwork in the franchise before this week. But the piece surpassed expectations as it became the most valuable item in the Harry Potter franchise on Wednesday.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Taylor was a 23-year-old native of Wales in 1997 when he drew the now-iconic image of young wizard Harry Potter standing in front of the Hogwarts Express.

Per his website, Taylor had been working at a children's bookshop in Cambridge, England when he read one of the first manuscripts of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.) and was inspired to send samples of his artwork to publishers. Bloomsbury gave him the job of illustrating the first Harry Potter book.

The piece of artwork sold on Wednesday was created using "concentrated watercolors with black pencil outlines," per BBC — and took Taylor two days to finish.

It was first auctioned in 2001 – before author J.K. Rowling finished writing the series – and sold for £85,750 (about $108,000 at current exchange rates) at the time.

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

"This is really the first visualization of Harry and the wizarding world," Kalika Sands from Sotheby's auction house told BBC of the illustration's significance.

"It's been extraordinary to see just the conclusion of Harry's story, but also how the Harry Potter franchise has taken off, and in that time, new generations have come to appreciate Harry and his journey as well," she said, of the increase in price in the two decades since the artwork was last sold.