For sale: Paulus de Boskabouter’s bedroom

On a shelf at the bottom of a glass display case are the facial expressions of Paulus de Boskabouter. The covered head in the top left is red, angry, underneath is a surprised head, with a mouth like an ‘o’. Auction house owner Vincent Zwiggelaar (50) has them for sale, just like other dolls and accessories of the series Paulus de Boskabouterthat was shown on Dutch television from 1967 to 1968. They come from the collection of the puppet senior, which after the death of owner Otto van der Mieden (1945-2024) ceased to exist.

Also for sale: the bedroom of Paulus de Boskabouter, the house of Eucalypta, professor point in a hanging fly mobile. And: small landscapes, studio sets smaller than a square meter, such as a grass meadow containing a bench, bridge, and the figures Gregorius Das, Solomon, Oehoeboeroe, Eucalypta and Paulus de Boskabouter. It is reminiscent of the landscapes that are crafted around model trains.

It was hard to ignore it: the TV series was a « mega hit, » says Zwiggelaar

Vincent Zwiggelaar of the Amsterdam auction house Zwiggelaar Auctions has all displayed it on low office tables, in the castle of Berlage in Amsterdam. The biggest object is something in a human format: a suit from Eucalypta, where Paulus assistant and maker Jean Dulieu (French for his real name: Jan van Oort, 1921-2006) himself ink-up on his puppet tours through the country before he started making the TV series. She is what you imagine with a ‘scary witch’, the suit consists of a large black cape, accompanied by a crow-like bird. Stiff rowed hair, piercing eyeballs (which are adjustable) with chin and nose from Terschelling whining cork.

Two channels

Millennials still have to recover from Monster Karbonkel I Mik Loreland (from 1994 to 2002 on TV), Mandatory costs in schools. Do people in their sixties, sixties also with Eucalypta? It was hard to ignore it: the TV series was a « mega hit, » says Zwiggelaar. There was not much choice: « You had two channels, and on one of those two you could see the forest gnome. » After the first TV series, a second came from 1974 to 1976.

One doll is nice for the fireplace, or a bedside table. But who buys such a complete Paulus studio set? What could you do with it? Zwiggelaar sketches scenarios: « You have a flat in Noordbroek, and in that flat you remove your kitchen table, because if necessary it wasn’t, the food can also be on your lap, and then you put it nicely there. Or you have a villa in Laren, and in that villa there was nothing left with it. » Where there is a will, in short, there is room for Paul.

How much the Paulus stuff will yield: Zwiggelaar does not know, it is ‘wetevinger work’ in this case. Auctioned on Monday, the 24 lots are estimated at a minimum of one hundred, up to a maximum of 2500 euros.

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