Skittle
Category
Toys
Date
Unknown
Materials
Wod, textile, glass and metal
Measurements
215 mm (Height)
Order this imageCollection
Dunham Massey, Cheshire
NT 937035.1
Caption
Who doesn’t love a teddy bear? Immortalised in literature and on film, real bears have been the subject of folklore throughout Europe for centuries. Americans are keen to own the invention of our favourite cuddly toy and whilst they can claim the sobriquet ‘Teddy’, the first toy bears were made in Germany. Soft toys were the invention of a dressmaker, Margarete Steiff, who came up with the idea after sewing felt scraps together into a tiny elephant. By 1889 she was mass producing small toys in her own factory in Geingen, southern Germany. In 1902, her nephew Richard designed a new line of toys based on his sketches of animals at Stuttgart zoo. One resembled the dancing bears in German circuses. This was also the year that US president Theodore Roosevelt made headlines for sparing a bear cub on a hunting trip. An American wholesaler spotted the potential of the Steiff bears and placed an order for 3,000 at the Leipzig Toy Fair in 1903. Within three years the United States and Britain were captivated by 'Teddy's bear' fever and a soft toy was well on its way to becoming a cultural icon. Steiff toys were always well made, expensive play things and the condition of this set suggests it spent more time inside its box than outside. Animal skittles were produced from 1892 until about 1919, so these may have once belonged to Roger Grey, 10th Earl of Stamford (1896-1976) who left Dunham Massey to the National Trust. Over 100 years later, like their more cuddly counterparts, they’ve lost none of their charm.
Summary
One of eight stuffed artificial brown fur bears, each with their nose chained to a wooden pole that they also clutch in their paws and standing on a shaped circular wooden base with black border; one of a larger set of nine skittles. The chain belonging to this bear is broken.
Provenance
Stamford collection; devised to the National Trust by Roger Grey, 10th Earl of Stamford (1896-1976).