www.danielagnew.com

Rare Red Steiff Teddy Bear up for auction

2011-03-09T01:43:00.000-08:00

His backing cloth is a cream or perhaps original white and the bright red mohair (nap) is woven through the cloth. Where he is bald he has dotted remains of red mohair, but in some places it is still bright and fluffy. It is a bit of a mystery why he is so bald, because he is still strong and apart from the lack of fur and few other problems, is in good condition. His black stitched nose and mouth are almost pristine, as are his eyes; these are completely original. The nose stitching is vertical; whereas on a smaller bear it is normally horizontal.

At sixteen inches (40.5 centimeters) high, this makes him the taller brother of Alfonzo, who is thirteen inches high. It has been suggested by Steiff that Alfonzo, Elliot (the blue Steiff sold by Christie’s in 1993) and presumably this bear, were part of a sample of twenty-four sent to Harrods in London in 1908.

So here we are, one of the missing twenty-two and only the second red Steiff to have ever been found. This makes three surviving examples from the original group. Alfonzo, the only other known red Steiff, who everyone knows; was sold by Christie’s in 1989 for £12,100. He is perhaps the most famous antique Teddy Bear in the world and resides at Teddy Bears of Witney owned by Ian Pout. Elliot, a blue Steiff sold for £49,500 (again by Christie’s in 1993) went to the Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation, and now lives in Canada amongst one of the finest bear collections in the world.

Where Alfonzo has the most amazing provenance, this red chap is a little more of a mystery. He was given to the owner when she was a little girl of 4 in 1978. There is a hint of a romantic past; her aunt’s friend was called Delphene, who is believed to have had Romany Gypsy roots. She lived in a static caravan behind the current owner’s grandmother’s pub.

As a small girl the owner remember visiting the caravan and it was like an Aladdin’s cave, full of antiques and collectables. The owner recalls, “Delphene had long black hair, and her place used to make me think a fortune tellers tent! In a chest on the floor I found this red Teddy and fell in love with him completely; every time I visited I went straight to the chest. I thought he had this adorable face; he had a smile in his eyes and mouth. He was completely bald, but I didn’t notice this, I thought he was utterly beautiful bald. His belly would rattle (this is his inoperative growler) and I used to think he had sweets inside.”

After a number of visits, the current owner plucked up courage and asked if she could keep him. After a slight hesitance Delphene said yes and he soon became a favourite toy. She took him everywhere and slept with him. “He was definitely the first toy I really loved and who seemed so important to me, like he was a little person and my friend.” I think this sums up the appeal of Steiff bear’s faces; they really draw you to the bear.

This bear is now coming up for auction, I am organising this at Lord's Cricket Grounds on the 29th May 2011. It will include all sorts of Teddy Bears and soft toys, as well as dolls and traditional toys. Please visit www.danielagnew.com for more details. Or if you would like to follow me on Facebook, search for Daniel Agnew and send a friend request.

If you have anything to consign, you have up until the first week of April.

Latest find - a rare Gibbs Toy Performing Jumbo.

2011-02-09T05:10:00.000-08:00

This is a wonderful toy, probably from 1910-20s. American company. A wooden platform with cast metal wheels, the jointed elephant is wood with metal legs covered in printed paper.

He has a label on the surface of the platform which shows the many positions he can be balanced in. He is 10 inches, 25.5 centimetres long.

Rare Steiff Skier from one of my favourite museums

2011-01-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

Here I am trying not to blog about Steiff for a while and then I get sent this lovely picture. Steiff dolls are amongst my favourite things, this one I believe is called Schiduen or Skiduen 40, he appears on page 429 of the early grey Steiff Sortiment. Although the one I want most is the fat skier!

So I thought I must share him with you. He comes from the Norddeutsches Spielzeugmuseum (North German Toy Museum) in Soltau. There is a link to this museum on the right top of this blog. One of the best toy museums I know and they have some very special Steiff dolls.

Well worth a visit if you are ever that way.

A huge Chiltern Hugmee for sale on my website

2011-01-10T08:19:00.000-08:00

Look at this wonderful chap, he dates from the 1950s and is the biggest size Hugmee you can buy. He is 36in. high.
Here he is taking up half the sofa in front of the Christmas tree, what a great addition to any collection.

You can find him now on www.danielagnew.com

Rare Steiff lying Foxterrier

2011-01-10T05:33:00.000-08:00

Look what turned up.. a mint wool version of this toy, isn't he wonderful. He now has a new home with my client who missed out in the Christie's sale. A happy ending.

My previous blog -

I am sorry I disappeared for the winter.. like this doggie I have been very lazy and neglected my blog.

Here is Steiff's stunning lying Fox (Fox Terrier) from the 1930s. He sold in the Christie's auction for an amazing £7500. The under bidder was very upset not being successful, so if you have an example you want to sell.. please get in touch...

I will not be so tardy and blog a bit more often for the new year.

Priced and ready for Hugglets this Sunday...

2010-09-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the bears and friends ready for Hugglets this Sunday, 12th September. Can you believe it's here already!

Really looking forward to it, I have 70% new stock which hasn't been on the website yet, so hope to see you there.

Stand 77 in hall 2, come and say hello...

Pom.pom.pom.pom

2010-09-01T11:56:00.001-07:00

Who remembers as a child, cutting out two rings from a cereal pack, getting some old wool and wrapping it round and round. Then finally cutting along the edge of the wool and tie with another piece of wool, ending up with a woollen pom-pom.

Well Steiff took this to another level, making all sorts of wonderful animals.

Here is one of the rarest items, a Teddy Bear; just under 1000 of these were produced in the 1930s.
Here is one lot in the Christie's sale, three ducks, with pom-poms on their heads. The green one on the right is a rare colour and the central one has tinplate webbed feet which is fairly rare.
This is a rare piece, a cockerel pin for your lapel.
Here are two little birds sat on a pincushion.

Lots more pom-pom woollen animals and birds coming up in the sale on the 13th October.

Sorry to keep talking Steiff...but

2010-08-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

here are some more delights from Christie's sale on 13th October 2010.

This is a beautiful standing velvet cat from around 1908, look at his original ribbon stamped Steiff.. there must been 15 similar velvet cats in the sale!!

Here is the maddest white rabbit you have ever seen. This has a Muster button, so was made as a sample. He is in perfect condition and has Steiff button and complete red cloth tag. From the late 1920s, he is completely amazing.
Look at this great Teddy Baby.. don't you just love his frosted mohair.
Here is a rare white mohair muzzle Teddy Bear, very rare in this colour. Not everyones cup of tea, but I love them...
This is a great Peter Rabbit, sold originally at one of the Steiff Festival Auctions. He has a blank button and is amazing condition.
One of a large selection of Steiff woollen animals, this hunting fox is very rare and comes complete with button and cream paper tag.
One of my favourite items in the sale, a duck cart with Puck driver..
And finally something not so rare, but very beautiful. A Steiff blonde Teddy Bear, what a darling!
Christie's are only printing a limited number of this catalogue. It will be an amazing record, 641 lots all illustrated in colour. Virtually everything Steiff made. I would strongly recommend ordering one soon. To order use the details below..

The e-mail address is:
subscribe-uk@christies.com

Teddy Bears - A private collection sale number 5035.
Rest of world = £22
European €32
USA $34

Here is another beauty from the Christie's Steiff auction..

2010-08-06T14:12:00.001-07:00

This is a mohair and felt Clown Roly-Poly from around 1910..

Can anyone help me with this Steiff Lion?

2010-08-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

Look at this lion, do you know why he was made? He is from the 1950s, he seems to have the same body as the Meckies and Dwarves from this period. He is the most beautiful character. He is holding a piece of paper which has pencil writing on it, this hard to read, but says something like 'Eine kinde..... wi..sor'?

If you can help, I would love to hear from you.

Thanks Daniel

I have added a photo of the piece of paper... can anyone read it and does it give you a clue to what he is?

Christie's Steiff Auction 13th October 2010

2010-08-01T04:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a rather lovely black Steiff Teddy Bear, circa 1913. Sixteen inches of rare Teddy!

One of the many amazing Steiff Teddy Bears and soft toys to be included in the sale.

If you would like a copy of the full colour catalogue, email Christie's and place an order soon..

subscribe-uk@christies.com

Save the date - 13th October 2010

2010-07-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

Christie's South Kensington with my help will be selling the most important collection of Steiff Teddy Bears and Soft Toys ever to come on the market. More details will follow on this blog and my website over the coming weeks. So stay tuned..

Look at this amazing Steiff lapel pin..

2010-07-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

Isn't he wonderful, a little circus monkey with original hat and ruff. He has a small brass safety pin on the back. Dating from around 1910, he is a very rare find.....

I forgot to say,,, it also has his original FF underscored button.

This is to be sold in the Christie's 13th October sale.

Steiff woollen pussy cat with velvet mouse.

2010-07-12T04:03:00.000-07:00

Does anybody like Steiff toys and Teddy Bears out there? Perhaps one of the most collectable toy company in the world!

I thought I might share this amazing toy, dating from around 1906, this is huge for this type of toy. 14 inches (35.5 centimetres) from head to bottom, not including tail. I have never seen anything like it!

As you can see she has caught a grey velvet mouse between her paws! Meaow.

Toy Boats at Greenwich National Maritime Museum

2010-07-07T02:04:00.000-07:00

I went recently to this very interesting exhibition. The world famous London National Maritime Museum in Greenwich has an exhibition of toy boats. This runs until 31 October 2010 and is free to enter.

Firstly, I must apologise for my poor photographs, they give you an idea, but I couldn't use flash, so they look a bit odd.
It is a small but perfectly formed exhibition with some very rare items. Early games, wooden Noah's Ark and lots of amazing tinplate boats.
Many of the boats are French from the Musee national de la Marine in Paris.
This is a Marklin battleship H.M.S. Terrible
This boy riding on top of a speed boat amused me, this is spirit-fired.
This French toy of two bisque dolls rowing is just wonderful.

This is a very charming river boat with sun canopy.

If you can get there, it is well worth a visit and the rest of the museum is very interesting. We travelled there by boat, the Clipper service is very good and fun. This is some pics of the return journey at sunset, passing Canary Wharf.

Visit their website for more details Greenwich Maritime Museum

Clifford K Berryman

2010-07-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not blogging for a while, I have been away on business. I have an exciting new project which might interest some Bear/Steiff lovers out there. I will keep you post as things develop.

Here I am showing you some original Clifford K Berryman artwork in the form of dinner place setting cards, that I have just sold to a client. They are two exciting and wonderful not to share.

They are all dated from the early 1940s and feature Berryman's famous bear that he first drew when Roosevelt refused to shoot a little bear cub in the Washington Post on 14th November 1902.
The Berryman's seemed to have had a fair few dinner parties and it looks like each person had a personalised card. The ones that have survived appear to have been done for his family.When at Christie's I sold a very important group of Teddy Bears and soft toys, which belonged to Berryman (13 December 2005); these were from the estate sale of Berryman's daughter Florence. This was held at an auction house in Washington in 1992, it is presumed that these are from the same sale.
It was during this auction, a similar postcard was sold within the lot and from this we discovered that this little bear had a name, Bevo. He had become a star in his own right. One of the bears in the Christie's lot was a very fine black American Teddy Bear which had the same facial mask as Bevo. At the time I believed this to be Berryman's very own Teddy Bear of Bevo.

It can be claimed that Berryman was the true creator of the Teddy Bear and this makes these original drawing very important items in Teddy Bear history.

Two interesting German market World War II toys

2010-06-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have finally worked out how to get images in the right order on my blog, hurrah! Here are two really interesting toys that I have just bought, I have listed them on eBay, so if you would like to buy them and are reading this blog before 8pm on the 22nd June 2010, have a look.

The first one is a very interesting game to encourage new recruits to the German army. There is a label on the side of the box which says "Oh, welche Lust Soldat zu sein!" which translates to "Oh, what Joy to be a Soldier!". As you can see it is a four-fold colour printed board.

The box is plain red, which would suggest to me that it might actually made during the war, as people were more economic with supplies during these years. The game comes with die, counters and little cards.

The game comes with original instructions, sorry I haven't translated them, so I am not sure if the game is complete or how to play it.
Here are close-ups of each quarter of the game. From the initial call up to the army medical, cough now!
Being fitted out with your new uniform as a Storm Trooper.
Doing boring sentry duty.
Earning your stripes.
Perhaps being congratulated on winning the war!!!

Here is the next toy I bought from the same person, I suspect they were one child's toys. This is a constructional/puzzle toy of a battleship.

The label on the lid reads "Flotten baukasten erzeugnis der bayerischen ostmark" and translates as "Nifty Modular Product of the Eastern Bavaria". It is also marked DRGM. An ex-colleague of mine, who was much older and perhaps remembers the war years; use to say DRGM stood for Dirty Rotten German Muck!

There are plans for two German, two French, one British and one Italian vessel.

It is in nice condition, but not quite complete. It is missing a piece of the prow, the pointed front end. This is just wood which is painted grey, I think this would be fairly easy to replace.
As you can see the box is a bit tatty.

I find these both very interesting. I have also seen games called Bombing England; where you can bomb various cities of England. You obviously have the same sort of games which are about Bombing Germany..

Luxury 1930s Christmas Crackers

2010-06-11T02:25:00.000-07:00

I was going to save this blog for Christmas, but I have decided to add this now for my new reader, code name EOB. She is a big fan of Christmas things, although she might think these are a bit vulgar! I love them, they are called Golden Horseshoe Floral Crackers. I presume the Golden Horseshoe is just a good luck thing, as there is no other horsey theme.

It's just amazing that a set like this survives. The colours are very 1930s, bright and gay, they would look wonderful on your Christmas table. How could the original owner have not used them. One of them has been carefully opened and look at the present. I would love to see what is in the rest of them, maybe I could get them x-rayed.
He is a little blown glass jointed charm, about 1.1/2in. high. I can't work out what he is meant to be, perhaps it's just a child in a winter outfit. There is also a rolled up hat and motto.
Here is the label on the side of the box. There is no makers name, which I find very surprising. The whole box is 28in. wide and each cracker is 10in. long.
As you can see the tubes are gold paper which matches the box lining. One end is a dark orange coloured crepe paper which I think is meant to look like a flower, this has glitter on the edges. The other end is a lighter orange skirt, with a frilled darker orange darker skirt. The carnation is hand coloured and is laid on a piece of orange net, there is also a real piece of dried fern. All is covered with a bit more glitter.
Love or hate them, they are a rare survival of a jazzier age.

Britax seat belt Teddy Bear advert, 1960s

2010-06-07T04:28:00.000-07:00

This is a fun item, an advertisement for seat belts. It is on tin with a paper image, covered in plastic. The bear is a Sooty type, has a slight look of a Chiltern Teddy Bear, but is probably a smaller maker. Does anyone know who made him?

"Our Toy Zoo" illustrated by G.F. Christie, featuring amazing Steiff toys.

2010-05-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

I think this dates from circa 1910 and has some amazing toys illustrated amongst it's pages. I have illustrated all twenty-four here, but I still can't manage to get them into order. I love this book it is for sale on my website, so if you like it, click onto the link at the top right.

Here is Tige the dog.
A wonderful early jointed monkey.
I can't find this hippo, but it obviously a toy, would be great if you found a Steiff one!!
Both these cats were made by Steiff, the Halloween one in the front, but the long necked one is very rare.

You can recognise these jointed donkeys by Steiff and also Missis from the Katzenjammer Kids.

Missis and Captain from the Katzenjammer Kids.
Tige the Dog from Buster Brown.
Here is a lovely Steiff Teddy Bear.

Jointed Teddy Elephant.

Look who is in the front Steiff's Man from Mars or Humpty Dumpty.

Very rare Suffragette tea set

2010-05-27T03:02:00.000-07:00

I know this is not really related to the subjects in my blog, but I thought this was so wonderful I just had to share it. As you can see it's a tea set for one made in the form of rather ugly women. When I first saw this I knew exactly what it was; although in the auction I bought it from it was described as an Alice in Wonderland tea set and another person viewing said it was Queen Victoria. You can see it has nothing to do with Alice and Queen Victoria was really well respected, that I doubt she would be depicted so. It was the colours that told me what it was.
The Suffragettes, during their fight for the right to vote, adopted the secret colours of green (G), white (W) and violet (V). Give Women Votes. Often worn in the form of jewellery or worn as clothes, it was a code so you could see who else believed in your principles.
I believe the flower motif around the rims might have some meaning, but I haven't been able to find details of that. The set is made from bisque, an unglazed porcelain, although the insides are glazed. Probably German and dating from the very early 1900s.
There were a number of souvenirs made representing these women and mainly they were very much in the derogative style. Showing the women as ugly and mad!
The campaign reached it's peak during 1912, if you want to read more about it click here. It was the work and effort that women did during the first world war that resulted in a percentage of them being given the vote in 1918. It wasn't until 1928 that they were finally given the same voting rights as men!
Have you ever seen this set before? I can not find it listed anywhere, I would love to find other examples so I could find out what it is worth. I think I will live with it for a while until I find out.

Alice in Wonderland Panorama with Movable Pictures

2010-05-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

Here is a wonderful book/panorama, printed by Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd. No.8594. The art work is by A.L. Bowley, this dates from the 1920s. The story is condensed into a verse which takes up three sides.

One of the sides with the verse on has an envelope for putting all the loose pieces in.
As you can see each page has three or four separate card figures or vignettes which are then slotted in to correspond with the verse.

Here is the cover. I think the illustrations are lovely on this, a little softer than Tenniel's.
It is a little damaged, but still a very good example of a rare item, I am going to be putting on my website for sale in the near future. I will let you know how well it sells.

The original Golliwog.

2010-05-19T05:21:00.001-07:00

This is the actual Golly that belonged to Florence K Upton; now in the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, part of the V & A.

It was given to her as a toy in her childhood; an American made doll based on a travelling minstrel; these were often blacked up musicians. Often and strangely, blacked up black musicians. They were big hits of their day, a tradition which carried on into the 1960s, with The Black and White Minstrel Show.

Florence and her mother Bertha, who wrote the stories to Florence's illustrations, published their first book "The Adventures of two Dutch Dolls" (also shown in the photo above) in 1895.

They soon became a great success Golliwog becoming the star and hero in the following twelve books.

These three characters were original sold in a charity auction at Christie's to supply ambulances for the 1st World War; they were bought and presented to the Prime Minister at the time and lived for a very long time at Chequers, the country house of the PM. It was Margaret Thatcher who thought they might offend visiting dignitaries and sent them to Bethnal Green. Which is great as we can all enjoy them.

I think these are my favourite items at the museum. It is well worth a visit, have a look at their website to Museum of Childhood

Norah Wellings catalogue

2010-05-18T03:27:00.001-07:00

Here is a very interest Norah Wellings catalogue, dating from the 1930s. It is a fairly large format, almost A3.

I haven't managed to get the pages in order here, I also only took one photo of the doll pages, there were a lot more. I was most interested in the soft toy and Teddy Bear items.

Look how much these look like Steiff pom-pom animals.

Norah Wellings made few bears, here is one of them, dressed in a suit. Later on you will see one which is made as a pyjama case. This is about all you see in bears. I am sure you all recognise the distinct animals with velvet trousers; these turn up fairly often.

I think this elephant or mammoth looks rather nice, not sure I have seen him before.

The monkeys are rather scary sometimes. I recently sold a very large display version, which I will blog about later. He had the most amazing intense eyes. My nieces and nephews were very scared!

These two pages are pyjama and handkerchief case, monkeys, what looks like a donkey and the bear is below.

The two long legged birds either side of the duck are interesting. I have one which has turned wood bead legs; I believe these were for hanging in a babies cot or pram.

Some dollies, I wish I had photographed the other pages now. Don't you think they look very like Lenci dolls?
This is the cover, made of fairly thick card.

I hope you liked looking through this. Sorry it's been a while since my last post. My laptop died and his has taken a while to get up and running with my new MacBook. It's all a bit strange..

More later... Daniel

Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh

2010-05-02T05:40:00.001-07:00

The other week I spent a wonderful few hours going around this museum, it is on the Royal Mile which runs from Edinburgh Castle, to Holyrood Palace (the Queen's official residence, when she is in Scotland). The museum is towards the Palace end and the best thing is that it is free to enter. There are a number of floors showing all sorts of dolls, dolls' houses, rocking horses, games, toys and Teddy Bears. Here are a few highlights to tempt you in. I will include a few more over the next few days.

This young ladies is one of the stars of the doll room, she is a Bru, she appears to be all original with bisque forearms.

I was fairly taken with this cabinet, it had some great characters. I love these three old men in the center, they are British politicians, very topical for the run up the election. There is Lloyd George and two others, which I need to look up. I didn't make a note of them rather stupidly, if you recognise them, let me know.

There is a very good selection of Teddy Bears, here are a few including Steiffs, but my favourite in this photograph is the Bing Teddy Bear with a red tinplate clockwork ball, he dates from around 1910 and follows the ball around the room when wound up.

Here is the view of the outside of the museum.

Opening time for this Edinburgh museum are:

Monday through to Saturday 10am until 6pm, that's from June to September,
and 10am until 5pm October until May.
Sundays 2pm until 5pm (only during the Edinburgh Festival).

Very rare Steiff Opossum `Billy Possum', circa 1910

2010-04-29T02:45:00.000-07:00

In 1909 William H. Taft became President of the USA; following Theodore Roosevelt. As Teddy Roosevelt had his adopted mascot, the Teddy Bear; Taft and his supporters adopted a Opossum called Billy. Rather amusingly, at a dinner to honour the new president held in Atlanta, `Opossum aux patates' - Opossum with sweet potatoes, was served!

In the same year, in response, Steiff registered this design and he was made until 1914.

Now very rare, they can sell for anything between £1000 and £5000.

Don't you think he is sweet?

Christie's Barbie Auction 2006

2010-04-28T10:43:00.001-07:00

I happened to find this great image of Christie's Barbie sale, while searching the internet. It brought back fond memories. The auction which I catalogued was one of the largest ever to come to auction. Christie's went to town and had one wall covered in `Barbie Pink' cloth to set off the collection. Here is an amazing line up, with Barbie No.1, 2 and 3 in her zebra stripped swim suit.
The three on the top left of the shelf are also very rare, they are `high-colour' Barbie's made for the Japanese market.

I have copies of the catalogue, which I regularly sell on eBay, so keep an eye out for it. It is well worth getting, it is fully illustrated in colour and prices can be obtained from Christie's.

Dealing with the sale gave me a huge appreciation for this iconic toy.. although I am not sure I am ready to deal with another one for a good few years.....

Very rare Dolls' house dolls

2010-04-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

These two dolls were part of the Warner Collection sold at Christie's in January 2009. They are what is generally called Mignon dolls, these are believed to be French, but other people think they are German for the French Market. They normally have shoeless feet, where German dolls house dolls normally have a painted/moulded shoe or boot. These two are extra rare as they had knee and elbow joints. They were all in original clothes and an original retail box for a Brighton shop Kyte and Harris Kinder Garten, 10 East Street. They sold for an amazing £5,250.

Can you believe it? A Belisha Beacon Duck!!!!

2010-04-22T03:33:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favourite things... I have wanted one since I first saw an example at Christie's 10 or 15 years ago. The owner brought one to the valuation counter, apparantly they were given away as a prize at schools to promote these new lights. At the time we thought that he was only worth perhaps £100-150 and the vendor did not want to sell at that level because Christie's charges only worked properly, when items were worth over £200.

I felt I had to get a photo of him, so I asked the owner and they let me take it to our photo studio and quickly take a picture. Ever since I have hunted high and low for one.

About 3 monthes ago this one appeared on eBay and thankfully it was in a catagory where followers of this type of toy don't look. So I was delighted to win him at a very low price (I love eBay for this).

The duck is mohair and has felt feet and beak; also felt discs behind his boot button eyes. He is probably by Chiltern or Chad Valley, but has no labels. Do you know who made him?

From Wikipedia -
A Belisha beacon is an orange globe lamp atop a tall black and white pole, marking pedestrian crossings of roads in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in other countries historically influenced by Britain. It was named for Leslie Hore-Belisha (1895-1957), the Minister of Transport who in 1934 added beacons to pedestrial crossings, marked by large metal studs in the road surface. These crossings were later painted in black and white stripes, thus are known as zebra crossings. The rule of thumb is that pedestrians have the right of way (over wheeled traffic) only on such crossings.

I would suggest that this duck must date from around 1934.

He now has become one of my star items in the collection.

Brownies....

2010-04-19T03:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a lovely baby's plate I have just sold.. it features the famous Brownie characters.

Brownie's are a type of Hobgoblin who secretly help around the house at night. This is also where the junior branch of the girl guides name comes from.

During the late 19th and early 20th century, Palmer Cox, Canadian illustrator created a series of books which became very popular. This is where the illustrations on this plate come from.

As you can see from the back stamp, this plate is made by Grimwades of Stoke on Trent.

Steiff Dancing Bears from a 1920s display, possibly the famous Bears Wedding

2010-04-19T03:30:00.000-07:00

These two bears are similar to those that were featured dancing in a display made by Steiff in 1925. At one stage they were on display in San Francisco for the American Children's Day on June 18, 1927. Called 'The Bears' Wedding', at least six bear couples were dancing on a raised area in the middle of a village, as a wedding procession comes out of the church. It is possible that this type of bear was made for other displays.

This pair sold for £13,200 at Christie's Teddy Bear sale on 13th December 2005.

A similar pair of bears were sold at Christie's on the 13th February 1992. These now reside in the Puppenhausmuseum in Basel and are photographed on page 50 of their museum catalogue.

A pair of dancing bears and three musicians were also sold at the Steiff 2003 Festival in Giengen, lot 50.

You can also buy a Steiff Limited Edition of this type of bears, I think they are charming..

Shall we dance?

Rare St Dunstans nursery chair

2010-04-07T03:19:00.000-07:00

This is a wonderful piece, a painted wooden rabbit nursery chair. `A Collapsible Nursery Animal Furniture - Made by War-blinded Men - "Rabbits" Small Chair - Designed by Vera Moller A.R.C.A'

St. Dunstan's was founded 95 years ago to help blind ex-Service men and women and is very much still going today. For the full history have a look at their website (copy and paste this into your browser).
http://www.st-dunstans.org.uk/about_us/collections_archives/our_history.html

I am trying to find out about Vera Moller; A.R.C.A. is an Associate of the Royal Cambrian Academy. I have tried a google search and nothing come up, I have emailed the R.C.A and I am still waiting to hear, will add details if I receive them.

How great to have the original box for something like this. The stencil design of rabbits is very clever; you can tell it is designed by a true artist. I believe this was made between the two wars.

I love this type of charity toys; another company who made items like this is Lords Roberts.

Do you have any examples of similar things?

A bit early, but `Anyone for tennis?'

2010-04-01T06:03:00.000-07:00

My latest purchase from eBay, a rare Bing tennis player. I have only seen one pair of these before in a Christie's auction in the late 1980s. This one is not in the best of condition, but he is all original. One eye is broken, they are tiny blue and black glass ones, if anyone knows where I can find a replacement, let me know.

The clockwork mechanism is in the right shoulder and makes the tennis racket arm move up and down. The head and hands are covered in felt and he has his original cotton tennis whites.

He dates from around 1910.. he was £19.50 and came with a Bing porter who is missing his barrow. Not a bad find?

Tell me about you best eBay finds..

Daniel

Christie's 2nd Teddy Bear auction 1994

2010-03-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

This is the auction which featured the world record Teddy Bear, Teddy Girl, which sold for a staggering £110,000. This record still stands today for an antique Teddy Bear, no matter what Steiff say.. they are just bending their figures to suit.

After the success of Christie's first Teddy Bear auction in December 1993, where Elliot was sold for £49,500, the second auction was very much looked forward to. It also had a lot of items entered, a total of 302 lots. The first section was the collection of the late Colonel Bob Henderson, who was in the Royal Scots. He was born in 1904 and died in 1990. His main bear was Teddy Girl, who was his brothers childhood bear, which he inherited when his brother grew too old for bears. Teddy Girl was originally Teddy Boy, but when Colonel Bob had his own daughter she gave him a sex change and the name stuck. After his military service Bob devoted a lot of time to his Teddy Bears, he was also involved with the charity Good Bears of the World (www.goodbearsoftheworld.org)and he was one of the first Teddy Bear collectors.
The first thirty-two lots were this collection, like many early collector, a lot of the bears were very cheap and cheerful, but there were a few highlights like Boots, who is now living with Alfonzo at Teddy Bears of Witney.
Teddy Girl was lot 32, when Leyla and I estimated her, we thought we were very bold putting £6000-8000 on her. As the auction grew nearer, we realised that she was one very popular bear. She wasn't just a beautiful center-seam cinnamon Steiff, but her provenance and the fact she played such an important part in the history of bear collection.

When the auction happened she rapidly over-took any expectations and before we knew it the hammer went down at £100,000.(add 10% buyers premium)At which point Leyla, who was holding Teddy Girl at the front of the auction, burst into tears!!!
People often ask me why she sold for so much. She now lives in a Japanese Teddy Bear museum in Izu. This museum was about to open when the owner bought Teddy Girl. When a bear sells for this sort of money, there is a lot of publicity. If you added up the coloumn inches of the newspapers alone and tried to buy that as advertising space, it would have cost you a good few million pounds, so perhaps Teddy Girl was not so expensive!

Teddy Girl did over rather shadow some rather amazing bears in this auction. There was an amazing Steiff Dolly Bear, a red Steiff with a white head and wool ruff, this was probably the best example of this rare bear ever seen. There was a beautiful Teddy Bear purse with a photograph of the original owner as a child holding it. There was an amazing frosted electric blue yes/no Schuco Teddy Bear; an extremely rare pink Steevans Teddy Bear with large metal button in ear; and a superb black Steiff Teddy Bear.

Were you there? I bet you wish you had been. I doubt there will ever be another auction like it.

This catalogue is now very rare and a must for any collector. I have about two soft back versions left. There were also a very short run of hard backs which were made for people closely involved with the auction, there are about 10 of these left.

This catalogue will be a real collectors item in the future.

Have a look at the new items I have listed on my website....

2010-03-16T04:17:00.003-07:00

Here is a selection of items for sale, take a look at www.danielagnew.com, there is a link under useful link on the right of this page..

A Steiff Dicky

Edwardian Teddy Bear china

Merrythought character toys

Steiff miniature 1920s monkey with button

Early Steiff burlap bear on wheels

Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising

2010-03-05T07:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had a little trip to a wonderful museum, hidden away in a mews around the back of Lonsdale Road, Notting Hill in London. Based around and owned by Robert Opie, it is the most amazing collection. If you are ever in the area, it is well worth a visit. You could tie it into a visit to Portobello road market which is on Saturday morning, get there early before the crowds. For more information see the website below. www.museumofbrands.com

The first part is all in date order, special cabinets showing Boer, WWI and WWII, the arrival of radio, etc.. the second half is themed by brands or type of product, like sweets and biscuits.

Not only does it have a wonderful selection of advertisements, packets, tins, etc. It also has a lot of character items, toys, dolls and teddy bears. Here are some of the items I found most interesting, there was a lot more, sorry about the poor quality of the photographs.

Here you see a lovely, strange looking velvet dog, next to a Tubby.

Also some Dean's toys including Brumus and Ivy, Arthur Askey, Lupino Lane and Mickey Mouse.

There is also a great Churchill doll, I am not sure of the maker of this, but I suspect it's Farnell. He is next to a lovely girl doll in her uniform.

Harwin Faun

2010-03-03T02:53:00.000-08:00

This wonderful creature I sold during my Christie's time in December 2006. He has a felt face and torso. Wonderul oily-clear and black glass eyes with brown painted backs, these are very typical of good quality early post WWI British toy production. He has painted features, which is used on Harwin dolls (the ones which were copies of early Steiff dolls). He has a ginger mohair wig and felt horns, the head swivels. He has fixed arms, but his legs are jointed white mohair deer legs bent at the knee with felt pads. Silk flowers decorate the hair and the `leopard fur' patterned mohair skin garment. He is 20.3/4in. (52.5cm.) high and dates from around 1914.

The Faun, which is associated with Satrs, but are know to be more gentle, are mischievous creatures with the legs, ears and tail of a deer and the face and body of a handsome man. They follow the god Faunus and can cause nightmares. At times, they can also be quite cheerful.

This is probably one of the strangest toys I have sold, I doubt you will see another one. I thought he was wonderful and would have loved to own him. Do you like or hate this chap?

Daniel

Winter Bearfest - Sunday 28th February 2010

2010-02-27T12:56:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow (depending on when you read this), is the Winter Bearfest at Kensington Town Hall, London, this Hugglets event is huge and has hundreds of stands filled with thousands of old and new teddy bears.

I'm stand 77 in the first hall, this is my stand a year and a half ago and this is my mum who helps, chief account!

I have a great selection of bears and soft toys for this event, just finished pricing and packing. The public opening is from 10.30am until 4.00pm.

If you are in London, why not pop along and say hello.

Daniel

P.S. I have now added an image of Sunday's stand (top image)

A Highland Laddie

2010-02-25T01:47:00.000-08:00

Look at this chap, he is a Simon & Halbig for Kaemmer & Reinhardt doll which is wonderful condition. Dressed in his original highland outfit with his tartan kilt and sporan. The best thing about the doll is his original box, he was a souvenir from Edinburgh. I am sure you can buy the modern version of this today, but it would probably be plastic and poorly made. The label on the box is for the shop Durie Brown & Co, 63 Princes Street, Edinburgh. He dates from around 1910.

Another charming part of this item is a little card that was included in the box, it was inscribed `A memento of Scotland from Uncle Tudor'. Sadly who it was given to and also who Uncle Tudor was, has been lost forever, but what a lovely thing.

I sold this doll in my auction in November 2009, I will be doing another auction in November 2010. If you want to find out more, visit my website (the link is above, right)and join my mailing list.

Daniel

Navy Week Chad Valley Bulldog

2010-02-23T10:46:00.000-08:00

This rare toy is part of my collection, it was a promotional toy for the Navy Week. He is made of velvet, he has orange and black glass eyes, his sailor's hat is original and has `Navy Week' written on it. He also has his original collar, a celluloid covered metal makers button and red and white woven label on leg. --8in (21cm.) long.

The Navy Week

Navy Week had been established in 1926 as a way of bringing the reality of the fleet home to the British people. In 1931, a period often identified as the height of British pacifism, Portsmouth alone had 25,000 visitors on one day. As the day in question was an ordinary working day (Monday), the figure seems all the more remarkable. Three years later, 155,098 people attended the Navy Week at its centres of Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth. By 1937 the figures stood at 400,000. Revealing the importance of battleships to these displays, The Times reminded its readers that a visit to the Chatham Week always required a bit more planning as the battleships couldn’t get close in. This meant spectators interested in seeing them had to travel to Sheerness. ‘The world’s biggest battleship [HMS Rodney] which cost £7,500,000 to build’, was always a big attraction: ‘As last year, the battleship Rodney, her big guns pointing skyward, was the most popular vessel on view. Hosts of visitors – who would have benefited by experience in steeplejacking – climbed the steel ladders and explored the electrically lit corridors in the heart of the ship.’

Christie's first Teddy Bear sale in 1993

2010-02-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

Here is the catalogue for Christie's first teddy bear sale held on Monday 6th December 1993. This was a very exciting event and was held in the evening starting at 7.00pm. Over 500 people attended and we had two rooms with two auctioneers.

The star of the sale was Elliot, a very rare blue Steiff from 1908. According to Steiff, he was one of a sample made for Harrods, of six different coloured bears, which never went onto become an order. It is suggest that Alfonzo, the red Steiff sold at Christie's in 1989 to Ian Pout of Teddy Bears of Witney, was also part of this series.

Nobody is certain what colours or size these bears are and as of yet, these two are the only ones ever to come up for auction.

Elliot sold for an amazing £49,500 to a collector in Canada.

Elliot was discovered by my good friend and Christie's head of dolls (later consultant) Olivia Bristol, from a chance discussion at an antique fair with a teddy bear collector. Olivia mentioned the upcoming sale and this collector thought it an ideal opportunity to introduce such a rarity to the market.

The remainder of the sale was a very interesting selection of German, American and British teddy bears. Some of the highlights included a rather worn black Steiff Teddy Bear, a Schuco yes/no bellhop and two amazing Strunz cushion bears, which I remembered selling very cheaply at the time. There was also a section sold for charity of Colour Box Miniatures Bears, these ended the sale. Many of these were one-offs created just for the occasion.

I'm going to detail the rest of the Christie's Teddy Bear catalogues over the coming weeks and months, these are a unique archive. If you wish to collect the set or complete the set you already have, they are all available to buy from my website www.danielagnew.com or from time to time I put the more common ones on eBay and very occasionally I include the rarer ones.

All prices realised can still be printed off Christies.com or you can phone the bids and results office number in the front of the catalogue and they will send you the results.

It is well worth having the catalogues as it will increase your knowledge of all types of bears and soft toys, over the 14 years of bear sales, Christie's have sold almost every type of bear...

Wheeled Steiff Animals...

2010-02-11T03:46:00.000-08:00

Here is a random selection of Steiff wheeled animals that I have handled in the last couple of years. Steiff produced 100s of different types of animals on wheels, cows, horses, rabbits, swans, chickens, tigers, and the list goes on.
The top images is a lovely burlap bear on metal wheels, this example is probably from around 1905. He has a bit of a saggy head. Some of the burlap bears on wheels pre-date the Teddy Bear and can be from the late 1800s.
Coming out of the long grass is this wonderful lion, with his shaggy mane. He is also on metal wheels and dates from around 1910. He is still available to buy on my webiste

This giraffee is from my own collection, he has a lot of holes, but one of my favourite toys and wanted one for such a long time.
This darling St.Bernard has the most lovely up-turned nose, he has a tiny Steiff button and dates from around 1906.
Little Donkey is from the earliest wooden wheel period, which is just prior to the 1st World War. He has his button and is also available to buy on my website.
The elephant is huge and makes a lovely noise when you pull his mechanism. He dates from around 1910 and would be a great addition to any collection, he is also still available to buy on my site. The monkey, elephant and camel are all examples of wooden wheeled toys. The monkey is about 1910, but the other two date from the 1920/30s.
The last is another camel from around 1910.

Do you have any Steiff animals on wheels from the pre-2nd world war period, why not tell me about your favourites?

Daniel

Teddy Bear Restoration

2010-02-08T05:38:00.000-08:00

Have a look at this wonderful early Steiff Teddy Bear called `Grandad'. He was restored by Dot Bird......here is his before and after picture. I think she has done a wonderful, subtle job. She has a fairly long waiting list, but worth the wait I think.

If you would like information on restoration you can contact Dot on 01765 - 607131 or email dotsbears@btinternet.com

Antique Pedlar Dolls

2010-02-02T10:03:00.001-08:00

Here are five very fine 19th century pedlar dolls. Models of women who used to travel around the country selling their wares from trays, the often wore a red woolen hooded cape. Two of them are wooden Grodnerthal dolls, the top right doll has a head made from wisen fruit. The bottom one has a very fine composition head. Double click onto each of the images and look at all the wonderful things that they carry in their trays.

These were normally assembled in Britain, but often the dolls were bought in from Germany.

A Good Luck Bear

2010-01-30T03:37:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-01-22T02:32:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-17T09:18:00.000-08:00

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)

2010-01-14T08:39:00.001-08:00

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

2010-01-10T05:11:00.001-08:00

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.

2010-01-10T04:39:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-10T04:32:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-06T05:14:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-04T03:58:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-04T03:41:00.000-08:00

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