Very Old, Carved and Jointed Large Bear with Great Smile! gouache and colored pencil wood is 3/4" thick

wood is 3/4" thick

Though neither dated nor numbered

1920s--and a late iteration of the mold to where the the edges are softened and what was a incised decorative band near the top has lost most of its detail

which I think contribute to a sense of this as a committed and intrepid athlete

Very Old, Carved and Jointed Large Bear with Great Smile! gouache and colored pencil wood is 3/4" thickThis old guy is about as tender as they come, and though made of wood one really wants to snuggle him! I found him in New Hampshire and have never seen another similar made of wood, though the form of his body certainly reminds me of those fur covered wind up mechanical bears made in Japan, which walk with just to the sort of slow, lilting pace I think this one would have if he were to start walking! Clearly he was made with a great deal of love, and