PENCIL&INK DRAWING OF CASTLE SIGNED J R R TOLKIEN

FAKE!!!

The auction doesn't state that the artwork is by JRRT. But it is certainly not his in any case. Looks a lot like Rodney Matthews' work. Therefore, one would have to ask "Why would JRRT sign something that is not his work?"

Going to the signature, the JRR part of it is all wrong. He almost invariably did not pick up his pen when writing the JRR. On this item, all three letters are separate. Even more, the downstroke of the R does not finish horizontally.

Lastly, one can just make out the K in Tolkien. JRRT finished the first part of Tolkien with a long upstroke on the K that finished well over the i or e. He would then finish the K with a separate down stroke (which may or may not have continued on into the i - but you can't see the i. So that's moot.) The K on this item is two separate strokes: one for the stem, the other for the < part. It's all wrong.

The seller even states "This needs a lot more research". So I think that the seller is has no clue as to the authenticity of this item. I won't attribute to dishonesty that which is easily explained by ignorance. Still, that does not excuse asking 'a bunch' for an item whose only value is that little scribble in the lower right corner!

CAVEAT EMPTOR!

What do you think about this?
Original sketch for Mordor

Looks like a fan sketch to me - nothing like the movie artwork (in case it happened to be from a sketchbook of one of the Rankin/Bass or Bakshi animators) and wrong date. Not Tolkien's style of drawing or writing.

Definitely a nice sketch (at least in the detail photo), but I think a bit pricey for an unknown artist.