Would you like to own a piece of Warhammer history? Soon you’ll have your chance as Christie’s auctions off the original Warhammer Fantasy cover art.
Every now and then, the world of Warhammer crosses over into our world with fascinating results. Sometimes it’s a lawsuit, sometimes it’s a beloved actor nerding out about the Adeptus Custodes. And today, it’s a piece of gaming history up for auction at one of the most prestigious auction houses in the world, Christie’s Auction House.
This is the same place that has sold works by Van Gogh and Stradivarius, and cars owned by Elton John. And soon, it’ll be auctioning off some of the most iconic artwork in Warhammer history as part of a collection called Groundbreakers: Icons of our Time.
‘Harry the Hammer’ At Christie’s Auction House – What a World We Live In
Of course, technically, this was before it was Warhammer Fantasy. There had yet to be a distinction. This was the earliest days. In fact, you can step back through time and take a look at the earliest copy of the game below, courtesy of the BoLS Retro Corner.
But that’s only the beginning of the legend. You can learn more about the history of this piece from the estate of Bryan Ansell on the_ansells_attic on Instagram. Ansell was originally a designer and then managing director at Games Workshop, until he bought the company from Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson in 1985; he managed the company till 1991. The Instagram post takes a deeper look at this particular illustration, which is the original cover art commissioned in 1983.
“Illustrated by John Blanche in 1983, Harry the Hammer was commissioned by Bryan Ansell as the box cover art for the first edition of Warhammer that was co-authored by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestly, released in 1983. Bryan and John knew each other as they both grew up in Nottingham and John was a keen collector of miniatures and a regular visitor at Table Top Games and Asgard’s Miniatures, Bryan’s first official company.”
The piece includes ink and gouache and is signed and dated ‘J.Blanche.83’. It measures 10″ by 10.6″ (27.2cm x 26.9cm). It got a bit of restoration last month in preparation for the sale.
This is a monumental piece of gaming history. And it’s far from the only thing in the auction with a connection to iconic creators. It’s disorienting in a way, seeing Harry there alongside J.R.R. Tolkien’s Merton College writing desk and a first edition of Alan Turing’s On Computable Numbers. Not only is it there, though, but the original Warhammer Cover Art is valued by Christie’s at more than both of those pieces put together. Which is a wild sentence to type out.
At any rate, the auction doesn’t open for another 24 days, so be sure and mark your calendar for when the bidding begins. Even if you aren’t vying for it, this is one spectacle you won’t want to miss!
Harry the Hammer, hammering on into the next 40 years of Warhammer and beyond!
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