Noses of Distinction

  

Noses of Distinction

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I have a soft spot for the Chiltern Hugmee teddy bear and have had a love affair with them for many a long year. In fact, I was a collector of these beautiful English teddy bears, long before I ever created a bear myself!

My collection, or rather family of Hugmees, began with my first teddy bear in 1964, a fine 20", 1950's design, named 'Big Ted'. He has stayed with me through the ups and downs of life and is with me still. There have been a fair few more adoptees over the years, the most recent of which arrived with me a couple of weeks ago. He was made in the 1930's by the Chiltern Toy company and has pristine mohair, unaffected by the passage of time; still dense, rich in colour and absolutely glorious ... the kind of mohair to make any bearmaker's heart beat a little faster! However, this poor chap had a nose to rival the most bulbous of noses, probably over-stitched more with love than skill, by a previous owner. He also arrived quite typically, with a loose glass eye ... but a small operation will soon fix have that safely secured.

The nose was another matter entirely. I initially wondered if I could live with it, but after researching further to find similar examples of 1930's Chiltern Hugmee teddy bears with their original noses intact, I decided it really had to go! A nose is one of the defining characteristics for any self-respecting teddy bear of course, but for the 1930's Chiltern it was especially important. The 1930's Hugmee was granted a splended vertically hand-embroidered nose, with two end stitches sweeping elegantly upwards. It was a fine, distinguished teddy bear nose, a nose of great distinction, making its manufacturer instantly identifiable. My new arrival was in need of an upgrade if he was ever to grace the teddy bear toy box, alongside his Hugmee contemporaries.

So, out came my stitch ripper and my determination. I pointed a spotlight at bear's hooter and carefully took out each of the many loose stitches, together with what remained of his mouth thread. As I did so, I used pins to mark where the fabric colour had changed over the years, providing a useful clue for the original line of nose stitching and mouth placement. Unfortunately the thread I used was slightly thinner than the original embroidery thread, but with careful sewing I managed to recreate a much neater new nose for teddy, far more in keeping with the appropriate 1930's Chiltern Hugmee nose. I may re-do this nose at some point, as I would have preferred the two end stitches to be a millimetre or two longer than I made them but all in all, not a bad job and after taking a photograph with two new pals, both original 1930's Chiltern Hugmee teddy bears, it is clear to see this nose is without doubt, far more sympathetic to the original 1930's shape and placement.

If you would like to read more about the Chiltern Toy Company, here are a few links:

https://allbear.blogspot.com/2011/09/challenged-part-2.html

https://allbear.blogspot.com/2007/12/once-upon-design.html

https://allbear.blogspot.com/2008/08/making-chiltern-memories.html

https://www.teddybear-museum.co.uk/collections/chiltern

https://cheshammuseum.org.uk/exhibitions/chiltern-toy-factory/

https://www.bourtonbears.com/bears-chiltern.php

Cheeky Chappy

After my series of Harris Tweed teddy bears, I decided to take a break and head back to my mohair stash this week. The weather has been so warm, my bear-making has been slow going, but I did manage to finish this cheeky little chappy. 

Scamp is 13"

Scamp is just 13" tall and what he lacks in height, he certainly makes up in personality! He is a traditional centre seam design teddy bear, which gives his head a lovely rounded shape.

I used vintage boot buttons forScamp's eyes as I think they really suit his laid back vintagey style ... and I gave him a lovely shiny waxed nose too.

If Scamp is your kinda bear, please pop over to my website to find out more about him. As I write, this lovely teddy bear is currently available for adoption.

www.allbearbypaula.com

An ol' fashioned kinda guy

Introducing 'Rufus', my very first teddy bear of 2017.

May he be the first of many!

16" Rufus is a mohair teddy bear

This fellow has really been a pleasure to make; I loved the colour of his mohair, a wonderful vintage red which really lent itself to an olde style teddy bear. I gently 'aged' his calico paws (the camera didn't pick it up unfortunately) and I gave him a sweet little 'darned' patch on his foot. I think the little sweater I knitted for him in cosy red and sand coloured alpaca yarn, complements his mohair perfectly. It's been lovely to have an excuse to cosy up on my sofa with my knitting needles these past few snowy evenings!

Rufus has just been made available for adoption from my website, so if you would like to know more, please to visit him at:

www.allbearbypaula.com

:-)

Update: Rufus has been adopted!

A new Old Timer!

16" Silas

It's been a while since I worked with vintage mohair, so this week I decided to put my last few pieces to good use to create a bear in 'Old Timer' style. 'Silas' is slumpy, a little care worn and a delight to hold! Do you remember Cornelius? Well, little brother Silas is created from that same wonderful burnt orange and rich burgundy vintage mohair, full to bursting with authentic character and sense of history. I do hope you like him, he's a striking fellow!

06/07/09 update: Silas has now found his new owner and will be living in the US very soon!

Making Chiltern Memories

Most people who know me, know I have a passion for the English 'Chiltern Hugmee' teddy bear. I have written snippets about what I consider to be this Rolls Royce of English teddy bear, in previous posts, (see http://allbear.blogspot.com/search/label/Chiltern%20Hugmees) but what I haven't yet found time to share with you, is the result of my 2008 Chiltern 'Tribute Bear' project! Before I launch into the details, here is a potted history of the Chiltern Hygenic Toy Company to give you a little background, the details of which I have sourced from http://www.teddy-bear-uk.com/TBUK_Main/TBUK_LearningCentre/TBUK_History/TBUK_Makers/chiltern/Chiltern.htm

A few of my own special Chiltern Hugmee teddy bears

Chiltern Toy Works was opened by Joseph Eisenmann in 1908, in Buckinghamshire. The company took its name from the Chiltern Hills which surround the area. Initially the Chiltern toy factory produced dolls, but in 1915 they introduced their first bear, the Master Teddy. On Joseph's death in 1919 Leon Rees, inherited the Chiltern factory and in 1920 the firm relocated to larger premises at Waterside in Chesham. In 1920 Leon went into partnership with Harry Stone, formerly of J.K.Farnell and a new company H G Stone and Co. Ltd. was formed. Leon was responsible for marketing and sales and Harry for design and manufacture. In 1921 the company opened a second factory at Grove Rd Tottenham, London. The new company continued to use the established Chiltern trademark and the name Chiltern Toys was registered by the company in 1924. In 1923 a range of bears called Hugmee's were introduced, and proved so popular that they remained in in production until 1967.

My work in progress!

I have wanted to create my own 'Hugmee' style bear since first learning about their history, courtesy of Pauline Cockrill's fascinating 'The Ultimate Teddy Bear Book', way back in the early 1990's. However, I soon became aware this would not be a simple exercise for a novice bearmaker! There is something about the unique proportions of these bears, with their little arms, short legs and large, flat faced heads, which is tricky to capture accurately. By rights, those huge heads should have the bear overbalancing, falling flat into his poor old nose, but somehow, everything about this bear's unusually disproportionate shape works perfectly.

My completed 17" Chiltern Tribute Bear, 'Leon'

For many years, I happily settled for adding the occasional vintage Hugmee to my ever-growing collection of teddy bears, while I developed my bear crafting skills. Earlier this year though, my sister Fiona sadly reached the conclusion it was unlikely she would return to her own bear making and alongside many other components, gave me her stash of mohair. Joy of joys, hidden at the bottom of the pile was the perfect piece of mohair for my special tribute bear!

My 'Leon' Tribute bear (right) shown with an original Chiltern Hugmee, musical bear

I think one of the many special qualities of Chiltern Hugmee bears, is their mohair. These lovely old bears were characteristically created from dense gold English mohair. English mohair is pretty hard to come by these days, I remember Fiona originally bought this particular piece of mohair when we first began making our own bears in the 90's; in fact, back in those exciting early days, she used it to create a big bear named 'Edward', a bear with a handsome hint of Chiltern about him, ... I wonder where he is now?

A Chiltern trio ... Spot the tribute bear!

Creating the pattern for Leon was a nail-bitingly drawn out process of trial and error. I took endless measurements from my vintage Hugmees, hunted through old copies of 'Hugglets' magazine (no longer in print) for Hugmee pattern hints and scoured the pages of my early 'Christies' auction catalogues for inspiration. Gradually my pattern came together and I started to realise my tribute bear could be a real possibility! Interestingly, I soon became aware that my usual bear making techniques wouldn't suffice if this bear was to have any aura of authenticity about him ... for example, I take a pride in super-neat hand embroidered, block style noses for my own range of bears, but Leon required me to stitch a slightly less than perfect, shield shaped nose, which was very frustrating. Also, I usually ladder stitch the ears to my bears heads as the last job, after my own bears are completely finished, but oh no, Leon had to have his ears stitched into the seams of his head pieces as they were being sewn together, an altogether different technique and one I felt quite ill at ease with. Then there was his stuffing, my usual polyester and plastic pellets were far too heavy for a Chiltern Hugmee style bear, so instead I needed to use kapok and boy oh boy, is that different to work with! It flies up your nose and sticks to your clothing, it's messy and fiddly too! Muzzle trimming was a real challenge too, my modern day neatly trimmed muzzles certainly wouldn't suffice, I had to resist that temptation and leave this bear untrimmed if he was to stand shoulder to shoulder with his brother bears! Unlike the original Hugmees, I decided not to use excelsior stuffing in my bear, after all, this was intended as a tribute bear, not a replica and as such, I felt entitled to cut myself just a little slack. I did incorporate some typical amber glass eyes with black pupils though, just like the originals and of course, my bear has a voice - not the original squeaker or music box, but as close as I could get with a traditional cardboard growler.

'Leon'

Creating Leon has been a huge pleasure for me and one I wanted to share, so Leon now has a new owner and of course, I still have my memories!

Learning curves

It was a Bank Holiday here in the UK, which basically means we have an extra weekend day, so no work if you're one of the lucky ones who can indulge! With the Hugglets' show drawing close, I couldn't risk taking an entire day's holiday with the rest of the great British public, so instead nipped into my workroom from time to time to finish my 'Cornelius' show bear, between family visits. He's a lovely mix of antique mohair, complemented with modern mohair head and paws. Working with the antique mohair is an education in itself and I must admit, it can get a bit scarey at times! Each bear teaches me a little more about working with such old fabric and this beautiful burnt orange and wine coloured antique mohair even seems to have lent Cornelius his venerable expression!

20" Cornelius will debut at Teddies 2008, on September 14th!

I was honoured indeed yesterday with a visit from my niece. She came to show me her latest purchase ... no, not shoes, handbags or jewellery, oh no! For the very first time ever, my seventeen year old niece drove across town to my house in her very first car, complete with 'L' (learner) plate on the bonnet and a slightly nervous mum strapped safely into the back seat. This extremely proud auntie had camera poised and at the ready, before said young miss zoomed back off down the road and out into the big wide world. Here's to your independence Lauren, stay safe Tin Ribs xxx

Hey, Lauren's on her way!

For those of you wondering whether the 'TOBY Public Choice Awards' have been announced, I can now tell you they have! As you know, my 'Billy Buttons' clown bear won his prestigious 'TOBY Industry's Choice Award' this year, such a proud moment for me. I am happy to tell you the Public Choice Award for the 'Big Bears Undressed category has been awarded to lovely Ellen Borggreve from the Netherlands, for her super bear 'Marbles' ... my warmest congratulations to you Ellen!

You can read Ellen's personal account of her success and take a peek at her lovely bear 'Marbles,' at: http://ellen-borggreve-design.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/i-won.html

And on the subject of competitions, after failing to make the first ten of the 'Taiwan Teddy Bear Association's Olympic Challenge' with my 'Victor' bear, together with several other excellent entries by talented bear artists, I have reached the conclusion I probably won't compete in such heavily themed competitions in future. Congratulations to those participating countries who were placed in the 'Olympic Challenge' top ten and well done to the team for raising funds for their chosen Moon Bear charity. No, this isn't a case of sour grapes by the way! I simply don't think themed competitions suit my style of work and I would rather focus my efforts where I feel the quality of my bears isn't likely to be undermined by a theme, because for me the true test of an artist bear has to be first and foremost, the bear itself, rather than any contrived theme. I guess that makes me somewhat of a purist eh? Well, I make no apologies for that. My instincts warned me of this potential pitfall before the 'Taiwan Teddy Bear Association Olympic Challenge' team invited me to participate and I now know I should have stayed true to that little voice in my head ... isn't hindsight a wonderful thing?!

Victor, my Olympic Challenge bear

I was originally asked to create 'Victor' by the UK's 'Teddy Bear Scene' magazine , and when the magazine ceased publication without notice recently (sadly before they could publish their 'Olympic Challenge') the 'Taiwan Teddy Bear Association' kindly stepped in to create their own online version of the competition to raise funds for the Moon Bear charity and I was asked to submit my bear to their competition, as mentioned above. At the same time, I was also asked by the editor of US 'Teddy Bear and Friends' magazine if she could publish 'Victor's' picture, alongside the original 'Teddy Bear Scene' magazine's invited 'Olympic Challenge' bears, so if you would like to, you can now see the original invited Olympic Challenge bears proudly featured in this Sept/Oct issue of 'Teddy Bear and Friends' magazine. Here is a link to the magazine's website: www.teddybearandfriends.com

I am, of course, still committed to participating in competitions offering teddy bear artists an opportunity to promote bear craft as a highly aspirational art form. So, now that I have a clearer head on the subject, I will look forward to entering a couple of carefully selected aspirational competitions next year ... thinking cap on Paula!

Old Timers

There are only three weeks until the 'Teddies 2008' show in Kensington and of course, I'm starting to feel the usual gnaw of pressure now. No matter how early I start my preparations, I always seem to approach bear shows with a sense of rising panic. Over the years I've learned just to accept my paranoia and do the best I can, whilst worrying the least I can! It is such a huge responsibility to create special bears guaranteed to delight show collectors - what a nightmare it would be to disappoint those eager visitors! It doesn't matter how much of an old timer I have become, each looming show has me feeling every bit of a newcomer as the one that went before.

'Ezra', an 'Old Timer' bear

I am hoping to finish show bear number 5 today. In fact, I'm looking forward to working on him because he's one of my favourite bears to make; yes, you've guessed - he's a clown bear! I've incorporated antique and modern mohair this time and so far, it's looking pretty good, even if I do say so myself!

'Ezra', 14"

Never mind that I have the London show to prepare for, the All Bear website still needs a little TLC. I wanted to use some of my antique German mohair stash to create a teddy bear for sale on the website, rather than use all the antique mohair for the show. It's a tricky balance to strike, but my website collectors are always so loyal and supportive, I like to try and share the good stuff with them whenever I can, rather than snaffle it all away for my shows. Little 'Ezra' has been waiting patiently, in pieces in the lap of a big ol' Frank Webster bear on my workroom floor, for a couple of weeks, but yesterday, I finally made the time to finish him. He's a very traditional bear, in vintage 'Old Timer' style, created from a rich honey coloured piece of antique mohair and today, he will make his debut on my website. Ezra is a dear little chap in the fur, I don't think the pics really do him justice ... there's something very special about the wonderful age of this mohair which annoyingly, the camera just doesn't quite capture.

Ezra profile

Prior to my show commitments, I also have three special bears to finish for a brand new venture. These bears will be collected at the Hugglets show in readinness for the grand launch of ... oops sorry, can't tell you just yet! I know, what a tease! Suffice it to say I have been asked to create them by a very special lady, for a very special launch. I will be able to let you know more about this mysterious new project later in September.

Before I return to my clown bear, I want to tell you about a call I received yesterday, from Eric Petit, the owner of the 'Musee du Jouet' in the South of France. I mentioned in an earlier post that thieves recently broke into Eric's museum, stealing many wonderful antique trains and dolls. Speaking with Eric on the telephone brought home the full impact of what has happened to him and his family. Seventeen years of collecting dedicated to building a wonderful history of play to share and inform, has been ripped apart by selfish greed. This callous act has undermined Eric's business, forcing him to partially close his museum and leaving him uncertain of the museum's future. Eric says he will 'keep smiling,' but it is clear his world has been rocked.

A bear with a past ...

'Archibald', a bear with a past!

This is 'Archibald', all ready for the Hugglets show. He had been waiting for his finishing touches for a little while, consigned to a corner of my worktable while I completed other more pressing projects. This morning I finally made time to sew on his ears, wax his nose and hunt out some suitably 'distressed' bells.

'Archibald,' 16"

Archibald's mohair is original antique German mohair, so this is definitely a bear with a past! The mohair has a wonderful sheen and has distressed naturally over the years, creating an authentic aged-looking teddy bear. It was quite tricky to make the best use of this piece of fabric, but after placing my pattern pieces carefully, I was able to use as much as possible of it and I am very satisfied with the way this 16" bear has come together. Also, I must mention how thrilled I am to have found some vintage leather boot button eyes for him - they really do enhance his aura of authenticity! He's quite a diversion from my usual style of bears, but a pleasing one, I hope you'll agree!

Tabling my frailties

'Elgar' 21"

I wish I could tell you I enjoyed creating this quirky chap, but if I did, I'd be fibbing! He has been such hard work, a real trial. Now that he's completed, I still can't look at him without seeing all the problems he has caused me, not to mention wishing I'd had enough fabric to make him a slightly larger head ... not quite the catastrophe I feared, but not the dream outcome I had hoped for either!

On arrival, this seemed like a good sized piece of mohair. I was entranced by the richness of colour and the wonderful autumnal leaf pattern, but by the time I had carefully placed each pattern piece to avoid the most worn areas, I realised there wouldn't be a spare inch anywhere and if I didn't want to completely waste my money (this wasn't an insubstantial purchase!) I would have to proceed with utmost caution.

I think this particular mohair must have begun life as a table covering or similar all those years ago, because the backing didn't have the strength of the other antique mohair I worked with previously, which was probably intended for use as upholstery once upon a time. With the exception of Elgar's arms, I found it necessary to line each pattern piece with interfacing to ensure both the fabric's integrity and my sanity.

Once or twice I almost gave up in despair as the closing seams threatened to weaken, but I persevered, making sure I took substantial stitches with my ladder stitch and giving myself sufficient seam allowance for the stitches to hold firm.

Now that Elgar is finished I can at least say I am very satisfied with the placement of the tapestry on his body and I do like his antique boot button eyes, particularly as they are gently pitted and undeniably aged - I think they give him a unique expression quite different from my contemporary bears. I also love the 1960's 'aurora borealis' buttons I've used from my little magpie horde, as they give him an extra special zing. I guess all in all, he's not quite what I was aiming for, but he does have a certain awkward charm and if nothing else, is definitely one of a kind!

Button detailing

With gentle handling I think this unusual bear will see out his days in comfort, but he will need treating with respect, just as an elderly gentleman should be. He will probably stay with me for the forseeable future and who knows, maybe we will become more accustomed to one another eventually! For now though, I'm more than ready to take a short break from my foray into vintage mohair and instead indulge myself in something modern, something completely 'All Bear' and dare I say it, something wholly more predictable!

Abe

I mentioned a little elephant in my previous post and now, through the magic of Blog Land, I can introduce him to you. As you can see, he's full of vintage charm! I've called him Abe. He was a devil to photograph, so I hope these pics have managed to capture his personality!

Abe is just under eight inches in height and as those of you who follow my blog regularly will recognise, he bears a deliberate resemblance in proportion and shape to my own hand made childhood elephant, 'Ellie'. I think Abe is a funny wee scrap of trumpeteer and I'm really not sure what you'll make of him, so please let me know if you think he's the kind of elephant only his mother could love! My instincts are that he would make a super companion for a special vintage, or vintage style bear; one thing's certain, he's definitely a great size for the job.

Left: woollen elephant 2008 - Right: my original 1960's elephant

I've developed the original softie elephant pattern a tiny bit, to include a jointed head and a head gusset in what was a simple two piece head, to give the head more definition, I've also taken a little more artistic licence with his trunk shaping, but other than those minor adjustments, I've kept Abe pretty true to my original 1960's elephant.

I last used Abe's mohair to create Walter, my recent vintage style bear and as this mohair is perfect for that aged feel, I thought it would be interesting to see how it would work with my three piece, unjointed body design ... I've combined the mohair with a lovely silk/velvet blend in an antique bronze colour for his inner ears and have given him vintage style matt boot button eyes. I didn't want to overwork this design, because I wanted him to retain a simple charm. He's been great fun to make, but tomorrow, I promise, it's back to the bears for this bear maker! Mind you, now I come to think about it, I may just have enough of this fabric leftover to make a companion bear in similar style to Abe ... now there's a thought!

Dabbling

I've always made bears who look brand, spankin' new and whilst I've often admired other bear makers' wonderful vintage style bears, have never dabbled in that particular genre myself ... until now! This is 'Walter', a 13" vintage style ted with boot button eyes and a little waxed nose. I've made him a wee bit 'slumpy' with loose joints and slight understuffing and well, as I sit here with him on my desk and ponder him, I think he's beginning to grow on me (metaphorically speaking of course!)

'Walter' profile

The knitted vest I showed you in my earlier post is a tiny bit big for Walter and as his mohair feels so scrummy, I've decided to leave him 'in the bare' and will make a bigger bear especially for the vest, another day. I guess that's just the way things pan out from time to time and there's no point fighting it, you just have to go with the flow!

'Walter' 13" vintage style ted 2008