Danish Luxury

Design Design objects Kay Bojesen

Bear

Kay Bojesen's seated wooden bear of 1952 in oak and maple, with arms and legs that move, made today by Rosendahl.

Designed by
Kay Bojesen
First made
1952

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The Bear small in oak and maple, seated
The Bear small in oak and maple, seated

Pictures © Kay Bojesen, from rosendahl.com.

Why it is renowned

Kay Bojesen is best known for his wooden animals, and the bear in oak and maple is one of the toys named among them.1 Rosendahl still makes it, in sizes from liliput to large.2

The story

Bojesen made the bear in 1952, in oak and maple.3 He took the idea from Ursula, a cub left by her mother and raised by a keeper at Copenhagen Zoo and his wife.3 Like his other wooden toys, its limbs can be moved.1 The rights to his wooden designs passed to Erik Rosendahl in 1991.3 Rosendahl makes the bear in four sizes: liliput, small, medium and large.2

  • Monkey, Kay Bojesen's wooden monkey of 1951
  • Elephant, Kay Bojesen's wooden elephant of 1953
  • Royal Guard, Kay Bojesen's wooden soldiers of 1942
Sources
  1. Kay Bojesen, Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org, read 1 October 2026.
  2. Kay Bojesen Bears, Rosendahl. rosendahl.com, read 1 October 2026.
  3. Kay Bojesen timeline, Rosendahl. rosendahl.com, read 1 October 2026.
  4. Bear small in oak and maple, Rosendahl. rosendahl.com, read 1 October 2026.

Last checked 1 October 2026, against the maker's own pages.