A wax pastel crayon drawing by the late South African president Nelson Mandela of the door of his prison cell on Robben Island sold at an auction for $112,575 (ZAR1.63 million) in New York.
It was estimated to be worth between $60,000 to $90,000.
The drawing, titled “The Cell Door, Robben Island”, is sketched in purple and shows a few bars of the cell door and a key in the lock.
The work, completed in 2002, is one of the few that Mandela kept until his death in 2013.
Mandela embraced art as a hobby after leaving South Africa’s presidency in 1999.
Mandela’s daughter, Pumla Makaziwe, was in possession of the work.
The work was part of a sale of modern and contemporary African art hosted by Bonhams, an auction house.
This was the first time this work by Mandela was exhibited in public. It was also his first work ever to be sold in the open market.
Mandela did about 20 to 25 drawings. Some were reproduced as lithographs to raise money for the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
Mandela, who inspired the struggle against apartheid, was jailed for a total of 27 years, 18 of which were on Robben Island.
