Doll, Dolls' House, Teddy Bear and Toy Auctions

bear and toy action catalogue

For many years Daniel Agnew has been advising on and holding bear and toy auctions.

Daniel's last auction with Christie's was in 2007.

Following on from the success of the three auctions held under the banner of The London Toy Auction (2009-2012), his next step has been to firmly establish similar teddy bear and toy auctions.

As the auctions have grown it became more important to make sure that everyone involved received a great service.

Contributing Items for Sale

If you wish to discuss consigning items for a future sale please contact Daniel:

Face-to-face: Daniel is generally based at the Newbury office each Wednesday. Please call to book an appointment on 01635 580 595

E-mail: daniel@danielagnew.com

Tel: 0751 500 4635 Monday-Friday 9.00am-5.00pm (GMT)

By post: Daniel Agnew, c/o Special Auction Services, Plenty Close,  NEWBURY, RG14 5RL

By road: If using SAT NAV please use RG14 5TR

Closing date for entries: is eight weeks before the auction.

In 2013 Daniel joined the well-established toy auction house, Special Auction Services, where his ex-Christie's colleague Hugo Marsh had been running highly successful toy auctions for many years. This seemed a natural step forward.

We now hold two specialised doll, teddy bear and traditional toy auctions a year at the Special Auction Services saleroom, 81 Greenham Business Park, Newbury, RG19 6HW.  To find out more please visit their website or request a catalogue call  01635 580595. Follow all the auction news by 'friending' Daniel on his Facebook page.

Upcoming Auctions

The Important Private Antique Doll Collection

of Austin Smith and Margaret Harkins

Part 1: Date: 22nd Feb, 2024 12:00: Part 2 - 25th April 2024 at 11.00am

The collection was built over the last 75 years and began in 1949 when Austin Smith and his late partner Margaret Harkins rescued a broken doll from an attic house contents sale in the West Country. The collection is now worth more than £500,000. The collection will be offered in two large single-owner dedicated auctions through Special Auction Services. The collection is probably the largest and most valuable sold in the UK in the last 25 years. 

Previous Auctions

Two Days of Auctions

Teddy Bears, Traditional Toys and Entertainment
6th December 2023

Dolls’ Houses and Dolls
7th December 2023

Auctions begin at 10:00 am

More than 1,000 lots over the two days.

Day 1 features:  Limited Edition and Artist Teddy Bears; Antique and Vintage Teddy Bears and soft toys; Traditional Toys (forty-seven lots direct from 'The Forest Toy Workshop'); Playing Cards and Traditional Entertainment.

Day 2 features:  Dolls’ houses and chattels;  Dolls and doll’s accessories

Popular Teddy Bears and Dolls
13th April 2023 auction starting at 10.00 am

500 lots of collector's teddy bears, antique and vintage teddy bears including part 2 of the Susan Collard Collection and antique, vintage and collector's dolls.

#1 Express Auction - The Teddy Bear & Doll Auction - 19/07/2022 10:00 AM GMT+1

We are delighted to present Dolls & Teddy Bears, the first of many express auctions we are collating. We have just under 400 lots of teddy bears, dolls & accessories including a small section from 'The Linda Fairhurst' teddy bear collection. We have lots that include Steiff limited edition bears, modern collector's dolls, antique bisque-headed dolls, toys and much more.

Don’t forget to view, register and bid via our saleroom SAS Live or the saleroom.com, online catalogue links below.

july express reduced

Day 1 - Tuesday 21st June at 11am 

Lot 1 to 33 - Limited Edition and Collectors Teddy Bears 

Lot 34 to 117 - Antique and Vintage Teddy Bears 

Lot 118 to 322 - Lynda Fairhurst Teddy Bear Collection - part 1 

Over 1500 bears consigned for auction, Lynda Fairhurst has been collecting for over 50 years and is still retaining about 500 bears. Now is time to find homes for the majority. Further bears will be included in July, September and November

Lot 323 to 376 - Post-war Dolls and Toys 

Day 2 - Wednesday 22nd June at 10am 

Lot 377 to 506 - Antique Dolls

Lot 507 to 783Jackie Wyartt Collection of Dolls, part 1

Hugo Marsh and Daniel Agnew have known Jackie for over 30 years. She was a regular visitor to Christie’s South Kensington when they worked there in the 1990s/early 2000s, often visiting with her devoted train collecting husband Bernard Hinchley.

Jackie has been a long-time collector of antique dolls, inspired by her grandmother running the Birmingham doll’s hospital between the wars, up until her death in the early 1950s. She bought from all over the world and especially loved large dolls 25/28in. - particularly bisque and china shoulder heads - papier-mâché, English woods, wax over papier-mâché, American Indian dolls and much more. 

Part One of her collection will include over 300 dolls, the remainder of the vast collection will then appear in July and November auctions. 

Lot 784 - Katherine Jeffray's Dolls' House 

Lot 785 to 921 - Dolls' Houses and Chattels

Lot 922 to 1039 - Traditional Toys

784-1

The Whopper Three-day November Sale

Teddy Bears, Traditional Toys, Dolls and Dolls' House - truly a whopper of an auction!!

Monday 22nd, Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd November 2021

Day 1: Monday 22nd November 2021

prototype bearsThe Steiff Collection of Margaret and Gerry Grey of Margaret & Gerry Grey's Teddy Bear Shop (Est.1984)

The largest and most comprehensive limited edition collection I have ever handled, currently a work in progress, but probably around 500 lots. All four bears shown here are pre-production sample bears with blank reverse of white flag tag.

Day 2 of this whopper of an auction will be Teddy Bears and Soft toys, Tuesday the 23rd of November, lots already consigned including this lovely Steiff cinnamon centre-seam bear.

Whopper Sale Day 3 is dolls and dolls' houses, several collections already consigned, this will probably be the largest doll section I have had.. 24th November 2021 including this pretty Bru Jner bebe.

Traditional Toys will be either day 2 or 3 depending on how big each section turns out to be.

Open for entries during September, but probably single to a few items or small collection only.

Teddy Bears, Dolls, Dolls' Houses and Traditional Toys Auction

Tuesday 8th June 2021 at 10am

Best
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Including -
Sue Pearson's personal collection of antique teddy bears.
A rare Steiff black mohair teddy bear 1908-1910 - £3000-£5000
A rare Steiff hot-water bottle teddy bear, circa 1907 - £6000-£8000

Gandmas teddy bear museum auction

Grandma's Teddy Bear Museum Auction

Wednesday 9th September 2020

Dolls, Dolls' Houses, Teddy Bears and Traditional Toys

24th November 2020

Dolls, Dolls' Houses, Teddy Bears and Traditional Toys Auction 24 november 2020 by Daniel Agnew

 

Featured Lot

Two rare intaglio eyed Armand Marseille

The childhood toys of Anne Messel, mother of Anthony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, the husband of Princess Margaret

Estimate:  £6,000-£8,000

The Joan Dunk Collection

9th & 10th June 2020

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THIS IS AN AMAZING COLLECTION TO BE SOLD OVER TWO DAYS!

JOAN DUNK 1930-2019

The passing of Joan Dunk represents the passing of an era in the antique trade. A stalwart of Portobello Road, for decades she had an outside pitch strategically positioned on the corner of Westbourne Grove, only moving indoors in comparatively recent years. It is fitting that on the fatal Saturday she had just packed up and returned home with her friend Matthew, many of whose miniature ceramics are included in this sale before she died in mid flow of ordering fish and chips.

Summer Teddy Bear Auction

Thurday 30th July 2020

d1 22 summer 20

Highlights of June 2018 Auction

Dolls, Dolls' Houses, Traditional Toys and Teddy Bears - 19th June 2018

The Byne Ladies

The Byne ladies and their related items sold for a total of £63,500 + buyers premium

byne ladies 1
byne ladies 2
byne ladies 3

Wanted for Sale

Teddy Bears and soft toys by Steiff, Farnell, Bing, Schuco, Merrythought, Deans, Chiltern and others; Dolls including Jumeau, Bru, Kämmer & Reinhardt, Simon & Halbig, Käthe Kruse, Kestner, Heubach, early woods and waxes, excellent condition vinyl fashion dolls; all manner of dolls’ houses and dolls’ house furniture, automata, rocking horse, wood, paper and composition toys and games, juvenilia and much more.