J.K. Rowling News: Author's Chair Sells for Almost $400K at Auction
After two previous auctions that put the ever-famous chair of J.K. Rowling up on sale with figures not reaching $30,000, the "Harry Potter" chair has now been won by an anonymous bidder at $394,000.
According to The Associated Press, Heritage Auctions said the chair is now owned by an anonymous private collector. While the winner is unidentified, the previous owner, Gerald Gray, was surprised by the huge number that the new owner was willing to dish out for the chair.
Gray, chief executive of AutoKontrol in Sarasota, Florida said he is now planning to donate 10 percent of the amount to the author's charity, in honor of Rowling's first move of donating the chair to charity in 2002.
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When Rowling donated the throne to the Chair-ish a Child auction in 2002, it sold for $21,000. The organization aims to support the prevention of child cruelty and is associated with the U.K.'s National Society.
The former owner hopes that the winner will decide to display the famed chair in a site where other children could see it such as a museum or theme park.
Back when she was just a small-time writer and lived in a pad in Edinburgh, Scotland, Rowling was given four mismatched chairs. Before donating the said chair, the "Harry Potter" creator wrote a letter for the "new-owner-of-my-chair" explaining how the oak seat was the most comfortable one among the set so it became her throne while she was working on "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."
Aside from the letter written by the great writer herself, the new owner will also see Rowling's art and heart painted on the corners of the seat.
Born Joanne "Jo" Rowling, the novelist has used the pen names J.K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith in her career that saw multiple awards. She is best known for penning the widely-acclaimed "Harry Potter" series that received numerous awards both in print and in the big screens.
