Princess
is a lovely Steiff Bear dating from 1908 , only 12 inches tall , with the most
lovely expression . She has her original boot button eyes and her nose and mouth
stitching are original . The horizontally stitched brown nose is outlined with
two stitches that converge at the base to join an inverted Y-shaped mouth . Her
long limbs have the original 4 claws embroidered in black thread on each paw and
foot , and her felt paw and foot pads are original with some moth holes revealing
the woodwool beneath them. Her woodwool filling that has settled in places giving
her a comfortable relaxed look and scrunchy feel . | 
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|
 | Her
profile shows the lovely typical profile of the early pre-World War 1 Steiff bears,
with a prominent hump and well-defined , narrow feet with small ankles. Her
squeaker no longer works, and she has lost her button which would have been the
embossed Steiff logo with the underscored F. Her gold mohair is still in
remarkable condition with only minimal wear, mostly around the abdomen just where
a child's fingers would have wrapped around her as she was held by her young owner. The
vintage lace collar that she wears is a later addition, and adds to her appeal. |
Most
importantly, this lovely old Steiff bear still comes with a vintage Sepia toned
photograph her and her 3 children. This cabinet photo is mounted on cardboard
that bears the photographer's name , J.E. Barry of Moncton, N.B. 
Turning
the photograph over, one is delighted to see , handwritten in pencil, the names
of the 3 children, Clara ( probably holding the Steiff bear ) , Edward and Emily,
with their dog,"King". 
To
find a bear with such provenance is indeed rare , and it is lovely to know what
the bear's owners looked like. With such a photograph , it is also wonderful to
be able to compare how well the bear has aged over 98 years . 
Holding
the dear old bear as one looks at the vintage photograph , a century of time just
melts away, and it feels as if one is instantly transported back to a much simpler,
much more innocent era , where a boy in a sailer suit, a lovely baby girl in a
lace dress, their family dog , and a girl with shirley temple hair and a big bow
, clutching her precious teddy, had a wonderful day out and had their picture
taken. Standing to one side would have been their proud parents, trying to catch
their attention and to get them to smile for the camera . Who would have known
then that a century later, that special moment could still be relived over and
over again, and that lovely old bear would continue to be cherished for generations
on. That is special indeed ! |
