Paper sculptures depicting Scottish literary classics sell for more than £50,000 in Edinburgh

Five unique paper sculptures made from and depicting scenes from Scottish literary classics have sold at a fundraising auction in for more than ten times the asking price.

The intricate artworks, created for Scottish Book Trust a decade ago by an anonymous artist, were sold by fine art auctioneers, Lyon & Turnbull.

Bids were accepted online over the course of a week, with the virtual hammer falling after a flurry of last minute offers from across the UK, raising £50,500 for the Trust.

Scottish Book Trust: Having books in a house is a good, if not vital, thing - Marc Lambert

The sculpture made from and depicting Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island

All the sculptures went for well above the estimated £1000 starting price, with one depicting Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure story, Treasure Island, fetching the most at £13,000.

J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan sold for £12,000 while Tam O'Shanter by Robert Burns went for £10,000, Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie fetched £9,000 and Lanark by Alasdair Gray was bought for £6,500.

The book sculptures were originally commissioned in 2012 by Scottish Book Trust to mark the first ever Book Week Scotland.

The mysterious artist, who is known to be a woman, first came to the public's attention when she secretly deposited her book sculptures around cultural venues in Edinburgh throughout 2011.

JM Barrie's Peter Pan sculpture is instantly recognizable.

During Book Week Scotland in 2012, the commissioned sculptures were placed in a different location around the country to be discovered by members of the public.

READ MORE: Edinburgh author wins Scottish Books Trust’s prestigious Bookbug Picture Book Prize

Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: "We're incredibly grateful to the artist for allowing us to auction her beautiful sculptures, and to Lyon & Turnbull for their support.

"We hope the successful bidders enjoy these rare works of art, and we thank them for supporting the work of our charity."

Lanark, by Alasdair Gray

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.