Vintage Cast Iron Teddy Bear Doorstop in Sage Green with Navy Waistcoat

This little bear sits with his legs stretched out in front of him, just like a toy left on the nursery floor, waiting patiently for someone to come back and play. He has dressed smartly while he waits, in a navy waistcoat with a bow tie and a heart shaped button, and he wears the faintly puzzled expression that all the best teddy bears have.

He is solid cast iron and painted by hand in soft sage green, his fur cast with a plush texture, with cream paw pads and dark eyes and nose. He sits on a mound of green grass flicked with yellow, above a base painted deep blue green with a cast scroll border. The back is hollow and painted white, with a long flat tab that slides under the door to hold it steady. He measures 9cm by 8cm by 10.5cm.

The teddy bear takes his name from President Theodore Roosevelt, who in 1902 refused to shoot a bear that had been tied up for him on a hunting trip. A cartoon of the story caught the public imagination, and within a year or two toy bears were being made on both sides of the Atlantic. A green teddy is a rarer thing than a brown one, which makes this chap all the more appealing.

He shows some gentle wear from his years of service: a little rubbing to the tip of his nose and ears, a few small chips on his paws and waistcoat, and some wear and rust along the edges of the base, with light rust on the tab underneath.

Prop him by a nursery or bedroom door, sit him on a bookshelf beside a row of well loved picture books, or give him to a teddy bear collector or a new arrival. Being cast iron, he is happiest where little hands can admire him rather than carry him off.