A Good Luck Bear

This little black Teddy Bear is American, here is the back of him and as you can see he has a postal tag attached to him. This was meant to be posted exactly as you see him, so you would stamp and address the tag and off he would go.

As you can see he has glass eyes and he has a silk plush which covers a hard body, which is probably composition or carton. He dates from the 1930s.

He is fairly rare, very difficult to find in the UK. Perhaps my American friends can tell me if they see them more often on their side of the pond?

One the reverse of the label says `Bears are known for their fur and hugs; Sometimes they're made into parlour rugs; No coat or mat will you get from this; But it bears from me a hug and kiss'.

I think someone should start making similar things today, what a great Valentines gift it would make.

Happy weekend all..

Another Sonnenberg wood and composition toy, a cat eating and mouse.

This is a really interesting toy, a wooden box with a hole in the front. A cats face protrudes through this, when you turn a handle at the back, a mouse comes out of a flap at the back of the toy, over the roof and as it comes to the front of the toy, the cat opens it's mouth and swallows the mouse.

The most exciting thing about this toy is the shop label on the reverse. `H.J. Curry's Toy Warehouse, 203 Sloane Street'. This is now a very fashionable street in London, near Harrods. It has all the high end shops along it, Gucci, Graf, Channel etc. I spent some time in the Kensington library and looked in old London commercial directories; Henry Joseph Curry is listed in the 1846, 1849 and 1852 issues. It is listed as a bookseller and stationer; in the 1879, 1891 and 1902 directories 203 Sloane Street is still a toy shop, but owned by Rose. Thos. Peter Toy Warehouse.

The toy is 6.1/4in. (16cm.) high and must date from the mid 19th century.

This toy was sold in my auction, that I hold once a year at Lord's Cricket Ground in central London. For more information visit my website www.danielagnew.com

Daniel

Rare Sonnenberg composition Butcher's Shop, mid 19th century

The bottom image shows the complete shop. There is a small handle that you turn and the butcher chops at his block and the customer turns backwards and forwards. Look at the detail of the inside of the hung meat, you can see internal organs and ribcages!

It dates from the second quarter to the mid 19th century, this type of toy is very desirable. Made from a mixture of wood, wire and composition (a sort of plaster, glue and paper pulp), this type of toy were made by a number of makers from the Sonnenberg district of Germany.

There is an amazing museum in Soltau Germany called the Nordeutsches Spielzeugmuseum, the website is www.spielzeugmuseum-soltau.de

They have an amazing collection of this type of toy, also some amazing dolls, toys and teddy bears. Very much worth a visit.

Does this appeal to you? Have you seen this type of toy before? Let me know.

Daniel

Christie's last Teddy Bear sale (September 2007)

The last teddy bear auction held by Christie's South Kensington, was the Teddy Bear Museum - Stratford-Upon-Avon. This was the famous collection owned by the lovely Gyles Brandreth (currently appearing on the One Show BBC1).

I thought you all might be amused by these images.




This very large Merrythought Beefeater Teddy Bear was bought by a lady who had a very smart yellow sports car, she drove all the way back to North London with him in the passenger seat. You are looking at Christie's delivery entrance.

Thankfully in did not rain!

Take time to visit my website www.danielagnew.com

Have a look at my website, which is different to this blog. I have lots of bears, soft toys and dolls for sell there. I also have a stand twice a year at Hugglet's in Kensington Town Hall in London, visit my stand there 77 on the 28th February 2010.



Best wishes Daniel

Anyone for tennis? Caco dolls' house tennis player dolls.

This four dolls are about 2.1/2in. high, they come in their original boxes with Harrods price labels, 1950/60s. They are made by the German company, also sometimes called Caho. These are very unusual as they have cloth heads, just like Grecon dolls. Infact I sold one pair on eBay and I was told by someone that they were Grecon dolls and not made by Caco. I can't believe this, because they are so mint and the boxes even show tennis players on the side, I suspect for a short time Caco tried making cloth headed dolls, to compete with the popular Grecon dolls in the UK. I have shown them to Olivia Bristol, who is well respected in the doll and dolls' house world and she agrees. I would love to hear your thoughts and experience about these dolls, do you know other cloth head Cacos?

Daniel

Famous Jockey doll by Allwin

Hello everyone, I need your help. I have this cloth doll in my collection by the British manufacturer Allwin, I believe him to date from the 1930s.

I think he is a famous Jockey, can anyone identify him or help me identify his racing colours? His cap is black, his shirt is purple with white sleeves and black buttons.

Thank you for you time, I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Daniel

Collecting Teddy Bear postcards

The most sort after Teddy Bear postcards feature photographic images of real teddy bears; if you can identify who made the bear in the photograph, this makes them more valuable. The most valuable are the ones that feature Steiff Teddy Bears. The top three postcard do this.

Generally they have to be in good condition and ideally with a stamp and dated frank on the reverse, most collectors do not mind slight wear to the corners.


The last two postcard feature Farnell Teddy Bears, the top one actually has amber glass eyes, the bottom one features the Queen Mother holding a wonderful white Farnell, I would love to know where that bear is now.

Other types of photographs in a postcard format are actually original photographs of a child holding their bear, these can also be highly sort after.

If you have run out of room with your real bears, this is a great thing to continue collecting. It is also fairly affordable, with some being as little as £3 or £5 each; but the best items can reach nearer £50 to £60.

Have a look at my website if you are interested in buying postcards, or visit me at my stand at Hugglets, I have an album full of them for you to look through.

Daniel

Four rare Steiff Teddy Bears

A rare muzzle Teddy Bear with photo of original owner.











A rare and early Steiff Dancing Bear.








A rare large 40 inches high Steiff Teddy Bear.












And a rare and unusual black Steiff Teddy Bear.

Steiff duckling egg cosy with blank button, circa 1907

This was a recent find of mine, sadly now sold. This cute felt toy has a rare tiny blank button. I had not seen him before, normally you just get the chicken head cosy. A tip for spotting a Steiff toy, they are really the only people who put a circle of red felt behind the eye. This item appears in the Steiff Sortiment as just a black and white photo from an original catalogue, so it must be fairly rare.

Steiff's felt toys are amongst my favourite, they made every conceivable animal and always of great quality. Perhaps my top Steiff felt toy would be the chicken skittles they made with wooden base.

If you have other types of egg cosies, I'd love to hear about them.

Daniel

My first blog - www.danielagnew.com

This is my first blog, I have a website called www.danielagnew.com, it deals with antique teddy bears, soft toys, dolls, toys etc.

I want to use this site to reach more people, if you are a fan of these subjects, please make contact.

Happy New Year to all, Daniel

www.danielagnew.com