Multatuli (1)

Bust of Multatuli on pedestal
Height (including base): 12.8 inches (32 cm)
Width : 4,8 inches (12 cm)
Length: 5,6 inches (14 cm)
Base : 4 x 3,2 x 3,2 inches (10 x 8 x 8 cm)
Material bust : neolith (resin)
Material base : granite
Weight: 9 lbs

Multatuli is the pseudonym of Eduard Douwes Dekker. His most famous book is Max Havelaar, in which he challenges the way the Dutch treat the local population in the Dutch East Indies. The story is based on his personal experiences working as a civil servant in the Dutch colony. The pseudonym Multatuli is Latin for “I have carried a lot” (multa tuli), a reference to Ovid’s Tristia. Max Havelaar is considered by many to be the most important work in Dutch literature.

The bust has been designed in 2010 by John Laurijssen. Laurijssen, who is based in Tilburg, created the bust from wet clay. The bust was then cast in bronze by using the technique known as lost-wax casting (cire perdue in French). The bust was patinated by Hans and Marion Nijhof of De Smelterij in Veen. A copy in bronze can be found in the National Writers Gallery of the Letterkundig Museum (Literary Museum) in The Hague. See also Multatuli 2 and 3.