Jill Barker from the UK has spend most of her life collecting special teddy bears. She now wants to sell her unique collection in order to preserve it.
Jill loves teddy bears from a very early age. But her first teddy bear collection was burned when she was about 8 years old.
The reason – she was suffering from scarlet fever, the Yorkshire Post reports. As you can imagine, she was quite upset about that.
So, when she grew up, she started a special teddy bear collection. It’s not that big in quantity – about 35 bears. But they are all top quality and according to Jill – historical. Currently each is worth about 2000 British pounds.
“They are so valuable they had to have their own room,” said Jill to the Nottingham Post. She is a retired teacher who is passionate about the history of the teddy bear. She’s got some of her teddy bears from auction houses such as Christies and Bonhams.
She recently read the story of Gill Burch from Newthorpe. She is also selling her teddy bear collection in order to keep it safe if anything happens to her.
“I have celebrated my 70th birthday and I am worried about the future,” said Jill. “I have been collecting my bears for nearly 50 years and I want to protect them. My great fear is that, if I do nothing, they could be swept up in a house clearance by people who don’t understand their value. I have no children and want to be sure these bears will be treasured and protected. Ideally, they should be in a museum. These are not toys to be played with, they are historical collector’s items”, says Jill.
So, on August 22 at the Hansons Auctioneers in Derbyshire, her bears will go at the auction. If you want to help her preserve the history of the teddy bears you can call 01283 733988 or email service@hansonsauctioneers.co.uk.
