Philys, Harry, Bill and Tommy and now Dyllis has just turned up ! Oh and there are  lots more!

Soldier Bears

During World War One many British Soldiers used to be given a little bear by their sweethearts and loved ones. These bears had eyes that were high up on their heads which peeped out of the soldiers' top pockets. The little bears on this page are  my version of these bears

Raymond is made from red vintage mohair  and I have aged him greatly with plucking, shading, waxing and adding faux stitching to his back seams. He has black glass eyes and is fully cotter pin jointed. He is filled with kapok and steel shot and wears a red,white and blue sash tied with a rusty looking safety pin and bell. Raymond is for sale at £59

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RESERVED

Evans  is made from blonde mohair that I have cut, plucked, shaded, stained and waxed to look like a bear that has been through the wars! He is approximately 31/2" tall and fully cotterpin jointed. Evans has large brown eyes and a sparsely stitched nose and wears a red, white and blue sash tied with a rusty looking safety pin.

Evans is for sale at £65

Parsons

Parsons is

Victor

I do enjoy making these little black soldier bears! Victor is made from vintage black viscose and is approximately 31/2" tall. He has a sparsely stitched brown nose and odd eyes. He has lots of war wounds and wears a sash made from a beautiful vintage ribbon stitched with gold thread, fastened with a rusty looking safety pin and old bell. Victor is fully cotterpin jointed and filled with kapok, used in the making of old bears and steel shot in his body for a nice weighty feel.

Do you think my window frame needs replacing by the way!!!!!

He is

Potts

Please meet Potts. He is made from a lovely purple mohair on a blue background- much nicer in reality than shown on the photo which is too bright. Potts comes with a beautiful WW1 silk  embroidered postcard  saying A Happy Birthday. Inside the flap is a separate little card and on the back  it says To Lily with love from Dad.

Potts is approximately 31/4" tall and fully cotterpin jointed. I have plucked, shaded and waxed him to give him a well loved look and added extra stitching. He is filled with kapok, used in old bears and steel shot for a nice weighty feel. He wears a piece of vintage ribbon around his body held together with a rusty looking pin.

Potts , together with his WW1 Silk Postcard is

Evans

4 Soldier Bears

The first on the left  is made from red vintage mohair  and I have aged him greatly with plucking, shading, waxing and adding faux stitching to his back seams. The pink one next to him is also made from vintage mohair  and has had the same treatment. The 3rd bear from the left is not really a soldier bear but quite similar and made from red mohair on a lighter backing and the 4th bear along is made from black string mohair on a light backing, again heavily aged. They all have black glass eyes except the one on the right whose eyes are blue. They are all fully cotterpin jointed and filled with steel shot and kapok. Three of them have sashes held together with rusty looking safety pins and the red mohair one has a rusty bell around his neck.

1st, 2nd and 3rd bears from left are now sold

Griffiths

Griffiths is made from red mohair which I have plucked, chopped, stained, shaded and waxed to give him a "gone through the wars" look. I have also added extra stitching to make him look fixed up. Griffiths is approximately 3 1/2" tall with black glass eyes and a sparsely stitched and waxed  nose. He is fully cotter pin jointed and stuffed with kapok, used in the making of early bears. He also has steel shot in his body for a heavier feel.

Griffiths is

 

Mrs Richardson

Some months ago I made Mr Richardson the little white soldier bear

further down the page. This is the blue eyed Mrs Richardson, also made from white mohair which I have plucked, cut, shaded and waxed. I have to apologise for the photograph  as it is late at night and I don't have very good light.

Mrs Richardson has the trademark high up eyes that the old soldier bears used to have. Hers are blue glass eyes and she has a sparse black stitched nose. She is filled with steel shot in her body for a nice heavy feel ad the rest of her is stuffed with kapok, used in some of the early bears. I have added some black stitching to her and she has a pink velvet sash tied with a rusty looking pin & bell around her.

Mrs Richardson is

 

Churchie

Churchie, real name Brian Churchill, is a little 2 3/4" Soldier Bear made from a spikey blonde mohair  with black guard hairs. I have plucked, stained, shaded and waxed him to make him look like he has been through the wars! It is a bit late in the day to take a photo now so it hasn't come out as good as it should be. He is fully cotterpin jointed and has one brown glass eye and one boot button eye and a sparsely stitched nose. He is filled with steel shot and kapok and has further mock stitching to look like repairs He has a tatty stained red, white and blue band around his body pinned together with a rusty looking safety pin.. Churchie is new and 

 

I have made this little fellow for my daughter  Amy, who next week is  going to work in Sicily for a year. He is smaller than the other soldier bears I have made at  2 3/4" as she will no doubt have limited space in her luggage/ room. The photo is too bright and doesn't show off his aged appearance.

Let me know if you are interested in the smaller versions

Mr Richardson

Here we have a little white mohair "soldier" bear. Or should I say was white!! Standing upright at 3 1/2" tall Mr Richardson is fully cotterpin jointed and filled with kapok and steel shot. He has large amber eyes perched high on his head and a sparse, embroidered and waxed nose. He has been plucked, shaded and stitched in various colours for the appearance of a much loved bear and wears a vintage ribbon sash attached by a rusty looking safety pin.

Mr Richardson is for sale at £65

George

George is made from a spiky mohair that I have hand dyed a salmon pink with other colours coming through. He is 3 1/2" tall and filled with kapok and steel shot. He is fully cotterpin jointed and has staining, stitching, waxing and patches added to him. He has large brown eyes and a sparsely embroidered nose. George will come wearing a rusty old bell around his neck.

 

 

Phyllis

Phyllis is made from a scrumptious coloured  short, spiky mohair. She has been hand dyed  giving a faded, patchy sun bleached rose colour. I have added patches, extra stitching , hand shading and waxing to her and plucked her mohair in parts. Phyllis is fully cotterpin jointed and filled with kapok and steel shot  and has large clear glass eyes with  black pupils and a sparsely embroidered and waxed black nose

She will arrive wearing a rusty bell around her neck

Phyllis is for sale at £65

Dilys

Now rumour has it that Dilys and Phyllis belonged to the same soldier!  That could well be true as they both have the same patch of mohair stitched to their hearts. Could this soldier have been given them by 2 separate sweethearts? Who will ever know!

Dilys is 3 1/2" tall  and made from  very pale pink longish spiky mohair. Of course most of that is now plucked or shortened. She has been given  lots of hand shading, waxing and stitching for a "well loved" look.

She has blue glass eyes and a very sparsely embroidered, waxed nose and she is fully cotterpin jointed. Dilys is filled with kapok and steel shot.

She is for sale at £65

Please email or text my mobile (0044 7929310275) if you would like to reserve her until I am back in England

Harry

Harry is approximately 3 1/2" tall and made from a sparse spikey mohair, grey with black guard hairs, on a blonde backing. He has  large amber glass eyes, high up on his head so that he can peep out of a top pocket like the bears that the British soldiers of World War 1 had. He also has a very sparse embroidered and waxed nose. He has little stumpy arms and legs and he is fully jointed. he is filled with kapok and has steel shot in his body. I have added extra shading, stitching and plucking to him and he has a rusty looking safety pin with rusty bells attached on his body.

Harry is for sale at £65

Bill has  large amber glass eyes, high up on his head so that he can peep out of a top pocket like the bears that the British soldiers of World War 1 had. He also has a very sparse embroidered and waxed nose. He has little stumpy arms and legs and he is fully jointed. He is filled with kapok and has steel shot in his body. I have added extra shading, stitching and plucking to him. He is approximately 3 1/2" tall and made from a spikey mohair which I have hand dyed purpley pink. He has a rusty old bell around his neck.

Bill is for sale at £65

Albert

Oh gosh I am here again! Another of my version of the World War 1 soldier bears that I am a bit obsessed with at the moment. Albert is made from a rare find of vintage mohair in a rich red. He is  approximately 3 1/2" tall when standing and and has black glass eyes, a sparsely embroidered and waxed nose and is fully cotterpin jointed. I have plucked away some of his mohair and shaded, waxed and added stitching to give him a well loved look and he has a red, white and blue sash pinned together with a rusty looking safety pin and 2 rusty bells. He is filled with kapok and steel shot

Albert is

 

And this is the 2nd attempt at the Soldier bear!!!  It is getting closer to the original ones the soldiers had during the war. he might look a strange one but they did!!! And  I didn't even want to let this one go, but ohh he has gone to his new home in Wales. There will be more!!

I am really pleased with Solly who is a new design . He was my first attempt at doing a 'Soldier bear' - he turned out nothing like the soldier bears but I was happy with his new face anyway!!! Solly is approximately 3 1/2"tall with stick like limbs. He has brown eyes and a couple of stitches for his nose and is made from a spikey blonde mohair that I have hacked away at and handpainted. He is fully cotterpin jointed & filled with steel shot and kapok. I have added  black stitching to him to further add to the well loved look.

Solly is

Just to give you an idea of what the original soldier bears were  like here are 2 that I saw for sale at £315 and £399

and here are 3 more originals

More Soldier Bears