A Bear from Bulgaria and Four from England

 
 
Here is my latest old bear find.  He came to me all the way from Bulgaria and is such an unusual looking teddy.  He is in the open mouthed style of many Austrian bears, particularly Fechter.
I have not been able to find the name of his maker yet, but have had a few clues. 

There are bears on the internet very similar to him and one has an original label pinned to his chest with the letters MB on it and a cardboard label with just the word Mohair on it.



A happy bear

I have quite a few more bears to list when I get round to it.
The one I am looking forward to finishing is the large Chiltern who's paws needed mending. I knew I had to replace the right foot paw as there was hardly any fabric left on it, but I hoped to just patch the other and his 'hands'.

Pinned paw

 I pinned the patch under the remaining fabric ready to sew it in place, leaving as much as the original on show as possible.

Pinned foot

I had to give up in the end and replace the paws completely.  The fabric that was remaining was just too fragile and split every time I tried to pull a stitch tight. 

Here he is with his replacement paws, trying to fit on the shelf with his new friends.  I just have to clean him and give him new eyes now.  He will be a handsome bear when he is finished.

 

I have already listed these 3 characters. Left to right - a Gwentoys bear c 1960s, an English bear that I think may be Farnell or Invicta (sold), and a lovely old, nearly bald bear, possibly Chad Valley.  They just needed minimal mending, ears stitching back on, seams mending, a mouth and a broken squeaker removal (the wire spring was tearing the mohair).
I cannot be sure of the last twos' origins as they have no labels, although the Gwentoys one does have his label.  They are in my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/PollysVintageBears