1906 Replica Limited Collector’s Teddy Bear (32cm) in Golden Brown by Steiff

1906 Replica Limited Collector’s teddy bear by Steiff. 32cm tall and exclusively intended for adult collectors. The 1906 bear is a fully jointed teddy bear replica, with a tummy growler. He has a mohair body with a unique colour specific to the 1906 original bear – a slightly orange shade with a gold dusting. Beige wool felt paw pads and wood wool filling. He has small round ears with long arms and a firm body. Glossy black eyes, a hand stitched nose and mouth, and a hand-trimmed muzzle. He features a period correct ‘button in the ear’.

This very special bear is a Worldwide Limited Edition of just 906 Bears and will come with his numbered certificate of authenticity.

The Steiff Group is a sixth generation family business founded in 1880 by Margarete Steiff in Giengen an der Brenz. Margarete Steiff started manufacturing toys when she created the Elefäntle from a pattern she found in a fashion journal. The felt elephant, intended as a pincushion, soon became popular as a children’s toy. The very first Steiff catalogue was published soon after, and shows not only elephants but also monkeys, donkeys, horses, camels, pigs, mice, dogs, cats, rabbits and giraffes. The Margarete Steiff felt goods factory was founded in Giengen, Germany in 1893 and Steiff manufacture remains in the same town to this day.

Richard Steiff was the favourite creative nephew of Steiff founder Margarete. He attended the School of Arts and Crafts in Stuttgart and studied in England before joining the still small company in 1897. He was often found in Nill’s zoo in Stuttgart, where he was inspired by the brown bears and drew them. From these drawings and sketches, Richard developed the world’s first teddy bear with movable arms and legs in 1902, the “Bear 55 PB”. Margarete was not convinced at first, but allowed Richard to exhibit the bear at the Leipzig Toy Fair in 1903. There it initially attracted little attention until an American dealer saw the potential in the little plush bear with moving arms and legs, and immediately ordered 3,000 bears. This is how the Steiff teddy bear’s worldwide popularity began, and as early as 1907, the teddy bear had moved into a million children’s rooms and became a beloved companion for a lifetime. The teddy bear with the “Button in Ear” is now famous worldwide.

In 2009, Steiff joined forces with Schulte, who supplied Richard Steiff with the fabric for the world’s first Teddy bear in 1902. This makes Steiff the world’s only manufacturer of soft toys with their own weaving mill and control of the entire manufacturing process.

Size: 32cm.

100% RMS mohair, certified by Control Union Cert 881601. Wood wool filling.

CAUTION! This product is not a toy and is intended for adult collectors only.

Product code 403491.