Puppets and props from Jim Henson's career go to auction for first time

Puppets, costumes and set pieces from Jim Henson's expansive body of work will go up for auction for the first time, with more than 400 items slated for sale this fall. The auction, managed by Julien’s Auctions, will feature pieces from Henson’s television programs and feature films, including childhood favorites such as Fraggle Rock and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, along with calendars signed by Miss Piggy. The Jim Henson Company announced the sale on what would have been its founder’s 89th birthday, underscoring the company’s 70th anniversary this year.

Karen Falk, director of the company’s archives, said the items were chosen from tens of thousands of pieces accumulated over decades of work. “This is the first time the archive has been opened to public sale,” Falk said, signaling a rare opportunity for collectors, museums and fans to acquire pieces tied to some of the most enduring characters in modern entertainment. The collection includes full costumes, props, puppets, posters and other memorabilia that span Henson’s career—from early TV work to blockbuster imagination-driven films.

Among the highlighted pieces is a full-body puppet of Naia Drenchen Gelfling from The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Julien’s Auctions estimates the puppet’s value at roughly $15,000 to $25,000, underscoring the blend of rarity and potential market appeal for fans of the fantasy world Henson helped sculpt. In addition to the theatrical pieces, the sale will feature calendars autographed by Miss Piggy, as well as other autographed items linked to the Muppets and the broader Henson universe.

The sale is scheduled to unfold online first, with bidding beginning Oct. 22, followed by a live auction on Nov. 25. A collector catalog detailing all items in the sale will be available to buyers, providing context on each piece’s provenance and use. The Jim Henson Company emphasized that the archival material had been carefully culled from a vast archive of candidates, with the goal of presenting pieces that best reflect Henson’s creative range and influence across decades of pop culture.

The auction comes as the Henson family has historically contributed select pieces to major institutions, including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Notably, the original Kermit—famously constructed from Henson’s mother’s green coat and ping-pong balls for eyes—was donated to the Smithsonian after years of public display and preservation efforts. In 2013, the family also donated an original Miss Piggy and several companions from The Muppet Show for display at the National Museum of American History, underscoring the family’s ongoing efforts to preserve and celebrate Henson’s legacy.

For collectors and enthusiasts, the sale offers a chance to own tangible remnants of a creator who helped redefine puppetry, television, and fantasy cinema. Henson’s influence endured beyond his death in 1990 at age 53, shaping generations of audiences through Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and the cinematic worlds of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. The auction marks a meaningful extension of that legacy, packaged as a single, time-bound event that mirrors the breadth of Henson’s career—from intimate television puppetry to large-scale, creature-driven storytelling.

The items will be distributed through Julien’s Auctions, a firm known for handling high-profile pop-culture estates and museum-quality consignments. The sale’s timing aligns with ongoing interest in Muppets and Jim Henson’s artistic lineage, as new generations discover or rediscover the creator’s work and the living legacy of his characters. While the auction provides a commercial avenue for collectors, it also offers institutions and scholars a curated look at the tools and costumes that helped bring Henson’s imaginative worlds to life, and which long ago captivated audiences around the world.

In addition to the sale’s financial aspect, the event serves as a public record of Henson’s creative process. The archive materials include not just beloved characters but also the engineering and performance craft behind them—an instructive window into a craft that blends puppetry, sculpture, theater and film. As The Jim Henson Company notes, the collection represents a cross-section of projects that spanned decades, offering insights into how a single artist and his collaborators shaped a multimedia universe that remains culturally resonant today.

As promoters of the auction highlight the archive’s breadth, observers note that the sale could appeal to a broad audience—from die-hard Muppets collectors to film historians seeking original artifacts from fantasy cinema. With the company’s 70th anniversary serving as backstop, the event also underscores the enduring appeal of Henson’s imaginative world and its ongoing capacity to inspire new generations of creators across media formats.