An important Ernest Shepard letter and Teddy Growler drawing, ‘Lodsworth 212 - WOODMANCOT LODSWORTH Nr. PETWORTH - 26 October ’71 - Dear Karena, Thank you for telling me about Emma, as I too had a Teddy Bear many years ago. He belonged to my son & we called him “Growler”. I say “Him” and I suppose you call Emma “Her” - Though I can’t see the difference & I bought Growler 60 years ago at a shop in my London and my children called him that because when you tilted him forwards he growled. He remained in the family for many years and when my son Graham, grew up and married, he and his wife gave “Growler” to their daughter Minette. Tell your brother that I am an old Pauline. I have 2 years at the old school in Hammersmith Road from 1894 to 1896 my brother Cyril was there at the same time and I had two special friends named Ritchie and Collison-Morley we all joined up when war started in 1914. They joined the infantry and I joined the gunners. All three were killed (my brother in the Somme battle). I was more fortunate and only suffered from gas. All my drawings for “Pooh bear” are from sketches I made of “Growler”. When the second war came my son and his wife decided that she should go to Canada for safety, they went and took “Growler’ with them. There in Montreal, poor Growler was savaged by and dog and died. Please ask Emma to shed a tear for him, my son, Graham, joined the navy and in Sept, 1943, while guarding a convoy in the Atlantic, his corvette was sunk by torpedo and went down with all hands. I am glad to know that Nicholas is good at cricket and plays for school and Eastbourne. I don’t know if I have the time to draw “Emma”, I will send you a drawing of “Growler”, as I remember him. Perhaps that will do. Yours sincerely, Ernest H. Shephard’ - the two sided letter 7in. (17.5cm.) high x 5 ¼in. (13.5cm.) wide with envelope addressed to ‘Miss Karena Elphinstone, 9 Westleigh Avenue, Putney Hill, London, SW15; and ink, pencil and water colour illustration of Growler standing holding a ‘Hunny’ pot, inscribed ‘Teddy Growler’ and signs ‘Ernest Shephard 1971’ —5 ¼in. (13cm.) high x 4 ¼in. (10.7cm.) wide - purchased from Sotheby’s May 1999 and is sold with a copy of the catalogue and a clipping from the Antique Trade Gazette about the lot and auction - Karena Elphinstone aged 10 wrote to Shephard about her bear ‘Emma’ in 1971, resulting him answering with this detailed and sometimes sad letter, his son’s bear is believed to have been a Steiff Teddy Bear from around 1908/10, which gave Pooh his very distinctive look and making this sketch is so important in the Teddy Bear and Winnie the Pooh world - see Some of our Favourite Bears by Ian Pout, page 27