Thought to be Steiff 8" Teddy Bears with Clothes
I have a set of two identical 8" Teddy Bears that I believe to be Steiff that were a gift from my deceased mother in approximately 1969-1971. I have spent hours combing the internet, and have never seen them come with custom made clothing, especially Lederhosen! They match other Steiff 8" Bears from that time period. They were bought new for us as children, and I believe they had the ear tags originally, but they are now missing. I also remember that she used to buy Christmas gifts from a New York specialty store called Hammacher- Schlemmer. I do not know if these where purchased there but that would be my first guess. I had an Auction house look at them some years ago, and they could not validate they were Steiff, but they did think so, and they also, had never seen the clothing items.
These were personal gifts to me and my sibling, by my mother, and I have owned them since new.(approx. 1969-1971 is my best guess)
Auction House
Maybe
Hi Gregory,
Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.
Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:
A pair of vintage Steiff small blond mohair teddy bears
circa mid/late 1960s- early 1970s
Each with a set of handmade cotton clothing comprising a pair of green Lederhosen and one hat, a blue raincoat and matching short pants, red with white polka-dot clown costume and pointed hat, red-and-white gingham one-piece, two red-and-white gingham short-sleeved shirt, one short sleeved blue shirt and one short-sleeved white shirt. Additionally, one larger-printed red and white square (?)
Neither bear retains original ear tag
each 8 inches long
CONDITION: both appear to be in very good condition
PROVENANCE: original owners, possibly acquired at FAO Schwartz
$50-75 per bear or $100-150 for the pair together*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.
Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, and thank you again for using Mearto.
I don't know the current status of the Steiff company, but certainly there must be someone that could easily recognize and possibly verify these bears...and perhaps even the clothing...as it must have been a limited edition, produced for some retail store ....I have looked at hundreds and hundreds of teddy bear pictures, and still never seen this set. One would think at least the Lederhosen and hat would be in one picture somewhere, but I have never seen another......thanks again!
Oh, and I found the second red checkered shirt in the center of the clothing picture...the only thing missing I think is the second German hat
Thanks for the additional photos and information. I think I got all of the tiny handmade garments included in the description but let me know if I've left anything out.
There are a LOT of Steiff bears on the market at the moment, which keeps the value down (the ones that bring slightly higher prices all have their original ear tags). In this case, I would say the sentimental value far outweighs the market value.
Thanks for the follow up, but the most important point to me is the clothes, especially the Lederhosen. As I have stated, I have NEVER seen this clothing on any other Steiff Bears...I have never even seen a dressed 8" Steiff bear in Lederhosen (they are German after all),...and to have two sets...I realize the tags/buttons are missing on the bears...but what about the clothes?Shouldn't that add to their value?Or...is there some value to the clothing sets?...even in original condition? Thanks agian in advance!- Greg
I think the clothing may have been custom made for these bears, possibly by someone who made doll and toy clothing as a hobby rather than to sell when they would most likely have some kind of label, etc.
Bears (like dolls) that are sold with clothing are not priced separately. The fact that these may be unique does not necessarily add to their value as some collectors do not want to spend additional monies on "unattributed" pieces.
It is not uncommon for auctions of dolls and bears to include lots of doll and animal clothing but those tend to be very large lots and they usually bring fairly modest sums.
If I were to price the bears separately from their clothing, the bears would be worth $40-60 with the clothing $10-15 for the group.
I'm not sure this is necessarily the answer you'd like - as I mentioned earlier - the sentimental value of these costumed bears likely outweighs their value to anyone else.
There are no tags or markings of any kind on either the bears or the clothes. I vaguely remember there being either a tag or an ear button on the bears, but it was 50+ years ago ;-)..I have enclosed 9 new pictures of clothing detail and a bear next to a measuring tape for scale. Each bear has the same clothing sets, but the stitching is definitely hand done, and the subtle variations are quite obvious, such as one pair of shorts with pockets, and one without, and the Lederhosen detail stitching. I also spoke with my sibling, and she suggested perhaps it was F.A.O. Schwartz, not Hammacher- Schlemmer, that my mother used to shop at for Christmas gifts...again, I have no idea being about 9 yrs. old at the time, but trying to trace the origin of these particular bears and clothing, as I'm sure they were purchased that way, with the clothing as a package...and as I have stated, I have done several hours of research, including contacting an Auction house, and come up empty. They were quite sure these were Steiff bears, but apparently couldn't research further, (perhaps because I was not selling at the time)..thanks again, I am hopeful you can help solve the mystery and assign an origin, maker, and value to the set, as I am interested in selling it, either whole or in two sets..pretty sure of the dating, had to be mid 60's to maybe 1970, but no later I would think