The story of Alfonzo  has touched the hearts of teddy bear lovers across the globe. Given, in 1908, as a gift to Princess Xenia by her father, Grand Duke George Michailovich of the Russian Imperial family, the bright red Steiff was dressed by a nanny in his authentic Cossak costume. When Princess Xenia paid a visit to Britain just before the start of WW1, Alfonzo went with her. The outbreak of war made her return home impossible and so she was spared the fate of her relatives who perished in Russian Revolution. Alfonzo stayed close to her until Xenia died in 1965. Alfonzo now belongs to Mr Ian Pout of Teddy-Bears-of-Witney who, together with Steiff, has created two limited edition replicas of this romantic "Russian" teddy bear

 1990 "Alfonzo" Replica: The replica Alfonzo (made by Steiff) was produced in a limited edition of 5,000 in 1990. See how faithfully he follows the original: he is the same height (33cm/13in); he wears an identical white-trimmed, orange cotton sateen suit, with trousers held up by braces, beneath a contemporary Russian style tunic with a side fastening. In front of the Steiff Alfonzo is our "Alfonzo" hand-puppet made by a Japanese bear artist.