Puppet and Jim Henson aficionados, our time has come! Now is your chance to bid to take home some history as a part of The Jim Henson Company 70th Anniversary Auction in partnership with Julien’s.
We had the opportunity to see some of the pieces in person and speak to Roy Parker, a specialist at Julien’s Auctions about this momentous opportunity and things to look out for (especially for a more budget constrained bidder).
“It was important to both us as Julien’s and the Jim Henson Company to have things at all price points because we understand that not everyone can get a puppet. There are things in the sale like some ‘Muppet Babies‘ animation cels, which are authenticated by Brian Henson, which are very cool.”
“There’s ephemera – you can get a nearly full set of Muppet Magazine, which they don’t print anymore, obviously. They have almost all of the issues in one single lot that you can get in the sale. There’s also press kits, some original fan club newsletters from ‘The Muppet Show,‘ which are really cool.”
Henson History
A plethora of projects are represented, and the auction was curated in conjunction with the Henson Workshop. While some of the a-list names aren’t available (Parker said “They told us upfront, you’re not getting a Kermit, no one’s gets a Kermit.” which seems reasonable to us), there’s still an opportunity to own some pretty key mementos including Miss Piggy’s shoes from the bicycle scene of “The Great Muppet Caper” or a full sized Crystal of Truth prop from “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” or an ACTUAL Fraggle.
This is in fact one of the first times the public has an opportunity to own an official Henson puppet.
Some of our favorite pieces come from Henson collaborator and puppeteering legend Caroll Spinney (better known as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch). There are several pieces of hand-painted artwork by the man himself. In partnership with Spinney’s widow they were able to present the collection as part of the auction.
“The last lots of this out are going to be these original pieces of art featuring ‘Sesame Street‘ characters by one of the most well-known and beloved puppeteers of that show – while we don’t have a big bird puppet, you have a painting of Big Bird by Big Bird.”
The Henson and Julien’s teams put together a delightful little video walking one through how to bid (featuring Parker and Timmy the puppet – an idea from Henson CEO Lisa Henson).
The auction begins November 25th at 10am PST.
