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Posts: 2hi,
My grandmother, who passed away 2 years ago, was given this Steiff bear in the 1920's. Unfortunately, she removed the ear button.
When her estate was valued, the appraiser said the following about the bear - "Steiff teddy bear in cinnamon mohair (some pile missing) with brown glass eyes circa 1928, value $2000.00." (The bear was appraised in the US.) His head turns and his arms and legs are mobile.
He has some original brown nose thread, but it looks as though someone sewed over it with darker brown more modern thread (probably my grandmother!)
I live in Australia, and am having trouble finding an auction house through which to sell this bear - Steiffs are not well known here, and I have been told by one dealer (it seems no dealers in Australia specialise in teddy bears) that he is not sure it is a Steiff.
Can anyone help with identification of this bear, 
and with where I could sell it through?
kind regards, julietwilson
Hi Juliet,
He's an interesting bear, and the year might well be correct, but from your photo, he doesn't look like a Steiff to me either. (A Steiff would have longer arms, for example, and the paws would all have four stitched "claws" on them.)
You could photograph the bear well from all sides, including some good close-ups, and send the photos to Ken Yenke for his expert opinion. (Scroll down a ways in this section to find a topic and link for him.)
Once you have the information you need, an ebay auction with international site visibility might be as good a way as any to sell him. Good luck!
Becky
Bears by EdieJuliet, how big is the bear?
Posts: 2hi Edie,
He is 21.5 inches or 55 cm tall.
warm regards,
Juliet
PennsylvaniaSome of the early Merrythought Bears had buttons in their ears, too but the company was founded in 1930 and they didn't start production until early 1931.
The dates you describe would tend to rule out Merrythought unless your grandmother had her dates wrong.
If he is a Merrythought, his button would have been made from celluloid, an early type of plastic, in which case, it would be likely to fall out.
It is common for people, even appraisers, to call any "old" Teddy Bear a Steiff. It's not because they are trying to cheat. They just don't know.
Merrythought are every bit as nice as Steiff. They just don't have the name recognition.
I think it could be a Steiff. I think that how the photo looks might make the arms appear shorter...i have an seen many old Steiff bears and sometimes the arms are not all that long..I think the different styles might vary...but the nose is certainly wrong and it's giving him an un-Steiffy look. I would send pictures to Christies or Bonhams auction houses, they have experts who will value with no self interest...then you will have an objective view as not being an expert you could end up selling a very valuable bear for much less than its worth without knowing the truth of his origins. What ever he is he is gorgeous and in great condition. I do think he looks like a German bear though...but I am not an expert ..only through looking at old teds for lots I years you get a feel for the basics!
