Steiff teddy bears confirm enduring appeal at London auction

Oct 14, 2010, 13:45 GMT

London - The largest private collection of Steiff teddy bears and soft toys in the world has been sold at Christie's in London for just over a million pounds (1.6 million dollars), the auction house said Thursday.

The prize lot, a Steiff Harlequin teddy bear from around 1925, fetched 46,850 pounds. A US buyer paid 30,000 pounds for a 1953 Steiff black original teddy and a 1920s Steiff fox in a fur coat went for 21,250 pounds. Rabbits also proved popular.

But dogs were the biggest single group of animals in the sale which comprised 'everything from insects to dinosaurs,' Leonie Ashfield of Christie's told the German Press Agency dpa.

The total for the sale of 1,300 Steiff toys reached 1.08 million pounds, a record for a toy sale at Christie's.

The collection was reported to have belonged to a disgraced hedge fund manager who pleaded guilty to fraud charges in the US last year and needed the money for a settlement, the Press Association reported.

Christie's did not confirm the identity of the owner of the collection.

Christie's said the collection had been built up 'from an academic point of view' over the last 15 years. The toys cover a period from 1890 to 1970.

Christie's expert Daniel Agnew described the sale late Wednesday as an 'historical landmark in the collecting world of teddy bears and soft toys.'

He said 220 bidders were present at the auction, which also attracted a huge number of telephone and online bidders from around the world.

Set up in Germany in the late 19th century, Steiff is famous for its hand-finished bears, elephants, rabbits and other animals featuring a 'button in ear' to prove authenticity.

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