Diane Byrne (20th/21st Century) American, Medium Tan Teddy Bear. Movable limbs. Signed on foot and dated/numbered indistinctly. Made by hand at her home workshop in upstate New York. Mink fur. 

Size: 15 x 8 1/2 in. 

#7548 . 

A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Two separate toymakers simultaneously developed the earliest versions of what became the common toy: Morris Michtom in the United States and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff’s company in Germany in the early 20th Century. Since the creation of the first teddy bears (which sought to imitate the form of real bear cubs), “teddies” have greatly varied in form, style, color, and material. They have become collector’s items, with older and rarer teddies appearing at public auctions. Teddy bears are among the most popular gifts for children, and they are often given to adults as well to signify affection, congratulations, or sympathy. The name originated with an incident involving President Theodore Roosevelt (who, ironically, despised the nickname “Teddy”), and the toy became one of the most popular of its day. On a bear hunting trip in Mississippi in November 1902, to which Roosevelt was invited by Mississippi Governor Andrew H. Longino, he witnessed a group of hunters tie up and club a bear and offer for him to shoot it, since he had not yet bagged one. He refused, insisting that it was unsportsmanlike, and his behavior was lampooned in a political cartoon that sparked controversy over the treatment of game animals and generated tremendous support for Roosevelt as an “honorable sportsman.” The drawing by Clifford Berryman for The Washington Post was seen by both Mitchom and Steiff, leading them each to create their own versions of “Teddy’s Bear.” Eventually the style became less anatomically accurate, more cute and less vicious, as the toy became more and more popular.