He came up with a golden-coloured fabric, made from jute or hemp, and commonly known as burlap. The result was an ersatz ursine known as Peter Jim, an example of which, left, was highly sought by collectors at the Buckingham salerooms of Vectis (15% buyer’s premium) on December 16.
Manufactured for only one year after the war, the Peter Jim was also a centre-seam bear. Frugal use of materials meant that Steiff used to cut six complete teddy bear heads from one piece of cloth and the seventh head was cut in two pieces, so creating a centre-seam. This considerable rarity sold to a collector at £8000.
A smaller scale rarity from the Steiff factory was a grey velvet mouse pin-cushion, dating from 1905, a limited edition with a plain button rather than the usual logo, and this toy fetched £600.
Other Vectis sale highlights included a Poulbot doll from around 1910, an SFBJ 239 model which took £2200, a Lenci cloth doll from the 1930s at £1000, and a Hertel, Schwab and Co. 165 Googly bisque doll at £3800.
Steiff’s rare ersatz ursine sells at £8000
Full militarisation of a collapsing German economy towards the end of the First World War resulted in the country’s famous toy makers struggling for raw materials. Richard Steiff, director of the eponymous bear factory, was forced to find an alternative fabric to mohair, an unobtainable luxury, so that production could continue in 1919.
