Sitting Bear Wearing a Tie

This whimsical cast metal bear proudly sits and is wearing a collar and cravat. His head is hinged and opens to access the inkwell. The piece is numbered “647” on the bottom. Perhaps he is a circus bear.

Or perhaps it was part of the Teddy Bear craze inspired by President Theodore Roosevelt. During a hunting trip in Mississippi in November 1902, guides clubbed a bear and tied it to a tree, then invited President Roosevelt to shoot it. Roosevelt declined, saying it would be unsportsmanlike to kill a defenseless animal that way. The incident generated national attention and was depicted in a popular political cartoon by Clifford Berryman. Inspired by the cartoon, Brooklyn shopkeeper Morris Michtom made a stuffed fabric bear in honor of America’s 26^th commander-in-chief and displayed it with a sign “Teddy’s bear” in their store window where it attracted interest from customers. Michtom mass produced the toy bears and founded the Ideal Toy Company.