The original Taliesin
Many years ago, in my early days of making teddy bears, a little bear named Taliesin was born. Standing at barely 6" and crafted from a golden mohair, he was an instant hit. I ended up making so many to try to meet the demand.
I don't really have much idea of exactly how many as my record keeping wasn't the best, but a good few hundred found homes amongst my collectors. Even today, he is still popular amongst my original collectors who keep an eye out on eBay for him. I know of one collector who owns around 6 and one has 4 - apparently they've formed their own boy band!! He was pretty famous in his day - he featured on a BBC Wales 'and finally' news report and also on a rather posh advertising campaign for new housing in Abergavenny! I believe the combination of a traditional teddy bear design, a big smile and his small size contributed to his popularity. He was the essence of a traditional teddy bear in a handful!
The mohair used to make Taliesin came from Norton Weaving which was a British manufacturer of mohair fabric based in Huddersfield. I remember the absolute terror I felt placing an order for a whole roll of 'Traditional Teddy Gold' mohair... such a lot of money to spend and would I ever recoup on the investment. It turned out to be a winner!
The last batch of Taliesins were made early 1994. By this time, teddy bear artists were creating more and more amazing bears with real artistic flair and I decided then that he'd had his day and I kept the very last one. I wrote "The last Taliesin" and the date (14/3/1994) on his label. He obviously had pride of place on my teddy bear shelf until we came to move house 11 years later. At this point, I will confess to being a Very Bad Teddy Mum. The last Taliesin was packed away in a box and the box was dumped in the loft of our new home. With all the accompanying madness of moving and then deciding that I needed a change of career to nursing, poor Taliesin was left in his box and forgotten about. The box was investigated earlier this year and poor Taliesin was rediscovered... complete with pretty extensive moth damage!
Luckily his big smile was undamaged and he did look very pleased to see the light of day. I felt pretty bad about it so I knitted him a cardigan (but got the size wrong so it's a bit big!) and sewed him a pair of dungarees to cover up the damage.
Finding Taliesin again gave me a real yearning for my early days of bearmaking. It was brilliant being there at the beginning of the teddy bear craze that had swept the world. He bought back fond memories of all the shows and bear shops that were springing up everywhere. All the good friends I made and especially the ones who are still making their fabulous bears now. So... I decided he needed to be resurrected!
A few problems needed to be overcome however, the first one being; no pattern! I spent many hours (days even!) carefully measuring, making parts, rejecting them, then making them again. The mohair I originally used was no longer available as Norton weaving had long since stopped trading. No matter, I was sure I could find a similar fabric... but that proved much harder than I had gambled on! As I noted previously, teddy fur has evolved into a glorious riot of fabulous colours and textures and it was difficult to find anything that resembled Taliesins original mohair, which had a stiffer backing with a slightly denser pile.
The new Taliesin
Ceridwen
I settled on a German mohair which is a shade darker than the original but I also came across a very pretty teddy yellow which I really liked, so I decided that Taliesin should have a sister and Ceridwen was born! It took me a week before I was happy with the first reborn Taliesin. There are differences, the original Taliesin had safety eyes but the new one has glass eyes. The looser backing of the German mohair also gives a slightly softer outline to the bear as does the less dense pile. I did make a few minor tweaks because all my patterns evolve and what I've now produced is how I feel Taliesin would have changed had I carried on producing him. Despite the tweaks, I feel the new version has all the charm and friendliness of the original bear.
Two original prototypes have gone to live with Finlay and Willow, my grandchildren who know that Nanny's teddy bears have to be loved and cared for. These days I normally produce one off bears but will keep Taliesin and sister Ceridwen as an open edition available on my website.
Just a note on Taliesin's namesake. The original Taliesin (pronounced Tally-ES-in) was a famous 6th century Welsh bard, much favoured by Welsh kings, including the legendary King Arthur. His name translates to 'radiant brow'. There are many myths and legends surrounding him and one in particular tells of how he was once a servant to Ceridwen (Cer-rid-wen) who, by very convoluted means, gave birth to Taliesin by eating a grain of wheat he had transformed himself into! In legend, he never had a sister so my Taliesin's sister is named after his mum!
Click the pictures to see Taliesin and Ceridwen in our product catalogue.
