A woman who collected teddy bears for nearly 50 years has decided to put them up for auction – with several set to fetch four-figure sums.
Jill Barker, from Bargoed, developed a lifelong passion for teddies after her beloved bears went up in flames when she was a child, and started collecting when she was in her 20s, before turning to antique bears at the turn of the century.
Jill, 70, now lives in South Derbyshire and will auction off 35 of her 40-strong bear collection.
She said: “I always loved bears, not dolls. When I was a child, I had scarlet fever and all of my teddies had to be burned.
“I was about eight at the time and was so upset.
“I have celebrated my 70th birthday and I am worried about the future.
“I have been collecting my bears for nearly 50 years and I want to protect them.
“My great fear is that, if I do nothing, they could be swept up in a house clearance by people who don’t understand their value.”
Jill, a retired teacher, has no children and believes her valuable collection – which has a dedicated room in her home – is worthy of a toy museum.
“Ideally, they should be in a museum”, she added. “These are not toys to be played with, they are historical collector’s items.
“I have two early Bings which are very special, beautiful bears made by a company founded in Nuremburg, Germany, in 1865. One dates from 1908 and the other from the 1920s and both have mohair fur.”
“I decided to buy the best bears I could afford. The Bings are the most valuable ones.
“They are worth £1,500 to £2,000 each but I also have Merrythoughts, Chiltern and Chad Valley bears.
“The Queen Mother always bought Chad Valley bears for the royal children. Wealthy families bought these quality bears.”
The collection are now displayed at Hansons Auctioneers in Derbyshire, where they will go under the hammer in a specialist toy auction.
But it’s not just the £10,000 monetary value which makes the collection of bears special.
Several of the teddies come with provenance as to previous owners.
One Bing bear Jill bought from Christies Auction House, London, in 2007 comes complete with its history and a photo of the child who owned it – an Emmi Bruckmann from Stuttgart.
The accompanying story claims the bear was given to her on her first birthday, in December 1926, by her father.
“Every bear has an individual history,” said Jill. “They have been through world wars.
“There are emotional ties to these bears. Some are rather worn because they have been hugged so much.”
For more information on the auction, call 01283 733988 or email service@hansonsauctioneers.co.uk.