Artist Teddy Bears

Since the Teddy Bear was born in 1902, many manufacturers of soft toys have made their own versions of the Teddy Bear and many of these have been very successful. 

During the Second World War when materials were in very short supply, when money was tight and when Teddy Bear makers had closed down because both factories and it's employees were needed for war work, handmade Teddy Bears have been made.  During the war, Teddy Bears were made from a variety of materials, the most popular being Knitted Teddy Bears.  Often materials for these knitted bears were taken from recycled garments.   There was even knitting patterns produced during the war with instructions on how to re-use old knitted garments to make Teddy Bears etc.  These bears were obviously very special as every stitch was knitted with love.  Some of these knitted bears are with us today and certainly are wonderful.

Since the war, there have been hundreds of patterns produced, whereby handmade Teddy Bears can be made.  The handmade Teddy Bear still being very popular.

Teddy Bear Artists have really gone one step further, they make Teddy Bears from expensive mohair and other expensive materials.  Their bears are made perfectly, sometimes even as good as, or even better than the famous Teddy Bear makers.

The first Teddy Bear Artists started in the United States back in the 1970's and the impact of these Teddy Bears spread to England in the 1980's, when lots of Artists started up.  Shortly afterwards, Teddy Bear Artists seemed to spring up all across the world and with it, collecting Artist Teddy Bears.

There are indeed lots of Teddy Bear Collectors that collect Artist Teddy Bears alongside manufacturers bears such as Steiff and even some Old Teddy Bear Collectors have Artist Teddy Bears amongst their collections too.   Infact, quite often Teddy Bear Collectors will take home the bear that has stolen their heart rather than whether it is old, new, manufactured or an Artist Bear.  However, there are some collectors who collect just Artist Bears and these collectors can be likened to collectors of many other kinds of art work.

Artist Teddy Bears, unlike manufactured Bears cannot be made in large numbers, most of their bears being produced in short numbers (limited editions).  Each Teddy Bear usually carries with him a label telling you about the artist and about his edition number.  It is true, some of these Teddy Bears are absolutely adorable.

Pricewise,  Artist Teddy Bears can fetch just a couple of pounds and they can also fetch many hundreds of pounds.   They can also become rather collectible on the secondary market depending, of course, on how famous the Teddy Artist is and how popular the bears are.

Some manufacturers have even joined up with Teddy Bear Artists to produce rather special Teddy Bears and one of these makers is the famous British Teddy Bear makers of Deans. 

Every year there are now hundreds of Artist Teddy Bear shows on around the world where the bear artists can show their new designs of bears and where Artist Teddy Bear collectors can enjoy looking at and purchasing their Teddy Bears.

Many Artist Teddy Bear makers are teddy collectors themselves and care a lot about Teddy Bears.  Some of them have some wild and wonderful ideas as to how a Teddy Bear should look and some are made in the old classic way.

If you love Teddy Bears it really is worth looking at some of the Artist Teddy Bears that are on the market, especially if you are looking for a Teddy that is absolutely unique.  It also feels good to talk to someone who has made that Teddy Bear that you have just fallen in love with.