Everyone wants to think they have discovered the ultimate flea market find. Many believe that an artifact could land them on so-called Easy Street.
An unofficial Mickey Mouse drawing dating to the early days of the Walt Disney Studios is expected to fetch a pretty-penny when the item goes up for auction later this month. The 9-inch by 10-inch, pen-and-ink drawing of Mickey is said to be in overall good condition with some age-appropriate wear to the original cardstock.
But is the suspected early 1920s image of a white-gloved, shorts-wearing mouse, really that of Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse? As the old adage goes, let the buyer beware. The item has some questions surrounding its authenticity.
According to Tallahassee, Florida auction house, Affiliated Auctions and Realty, an anonymous Sunshine State collector claims to have unearthed the ink drawing of Mickey complete with his trademark ears, short pants, and shoes at a flea market. The drawing which was featured in a November 1991 article in The Comics Journal Newswatch claims to be an early rendering of Mickey from the 1920s.
According to the collector, the framed sketch was purchased at a flea market from items connected to a South Georgia estate sale. The collector claims to have paid ten dollars for the item. On the back of the frame there is an inscription that says “Son’s Baby Picture, 1926 and 1927. He loved it.” Opening the frame, there were so-called Disney-esque family pencil sketches on the back side that are believed to be connected to Walt Disney.
The owner says he was able to establish that the estate sale where the item was purchased was held on behalf of a family connected to Disney. But despite the connection, Disney Archivist Dave Smith told the owner years ago that the item could not be authentic simply because Mickey did not exist prior to 1928 in his debut in “Steamboat Willie” and that the drawing of the mouse shows Mickey with five fingers instead of the customary four digits.
In his effort to authenticate the drawing, the collector took the item to Florida State University forgery expert Francois Boucher who said he was not qualified to definitively state whether it was an original Walt Disney drawing. However, Boucher said he believed the item was an early Mickey Mouse drawing and a good flea market find.
Adding to the mystery of the item, the collector sought out author and comic art historian Craig Yoe who said he believed the sketch was indeed connected to Walt. Yoe said “there are some incredible similarities” between the item and Walt’s high school drawings. The historian added that “I would swear the drawing was by Walt Disney,” noting the brush work looks like Walt’s signature style. Yoe authored The Art of Mickey Mouse published by Disney’s Hyperion Publishing in 1991.
So, after being locked away in a safety-deposit box, the collector is taking his decades-long quest to authenticate the Mickey Mouse drawing to auction. The owner says it is now up to the free market to decide its future. Affiliated Auctions says the item is expected to go up for bid on June 29th at 9:00 a.m. According to the listing on the auction house’s website the item is expected to bring in between one-million to one-and-a-half-million dollars.