Vintage Bisque Teddy Bear and Barrel Candle Holder with Red Bow
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A gift shop teddy bear candle with no maker's name
This vintage bisque teddy bear barrel candle holder is a small painted ceramic figure: a chubby rust-orange teddy bear with a red bow at its neck, sitting up against a pale tan barrel. The barrel is filled with poured wax that has two wicks, so the piece was sold as a ready-made candle, not an empty holder.
It is bisque, meaning fired ceramic left unglazed and then painted in flat matte colors. The bare white body shows on the bottom and where the paint has rubbed away along the lower edges. The bear's body is hollow and open underneath. The barrel's bottom is closed, and it carries the only mark: a round gold sticker printed "MADE IN CHINA."
The maker isn't marked and couldn't be traced. Searches of live eBay, Etsy and Poshmark listings and general web searches (teddy bear barrel candle, bisque bear red bow candle, bear bucket candle and similar phrases) turned up no other copy of this design on October 29, 2026.
What can be said is what family it belongs to. Painted bisque bears that hold or sit beside a candle were common gift shop and holiday pieces in the 1980s. Jasco sold a bisque teddy bear candle holder in 1980 under its Sweet Keepers name, made in Taiwan, and Enesco's Lucy & Me line had a 1980 Santa bear taper holder. Poured wax in a painted bisque container, often a bear beside a Christmas tree with a lid, turns up regularly in listings. Those are lookalikes in type, not matches. This bear's sculpted fur, yellow paw pads and plain wood-grain barrel don't match any of them.
This bear and the bear candle holders it gets confused with
None of these is the same design. They are the closest pieces found in listings on October 29, 2026, so you can rule them in or out.
| Version | Marks | Tells | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| This bear Maker unknown | Round gold "MADE IN CHINA" sticker under the barrel, nothing else | Rust-orange bear with sculpted fur, red bow, yellow paw pads; plain tan barrel with poured two-wick wax | Matte paint on unglazed bisque |
| Bear and barrel tea light Unbranded | None listed | Tan bear in a white sweater with a green bow and candy cane; brown barrel with holly; about 3 in. | Painted |
| Enesco Cherished Teddies Boy with Barrel 1998, no. 353965 | Sold by Enesco under the Cherished Teddies name | Boy bear with a barrel made to hold a votive or tea light, no poured wax | Painted |
| Jasco Sweet Keepers bear candle holder 1980, Taiwan | Listed as Jasco, made in Taiwan | Christmas bear candle holder | Painted bisque |
- Check the sticker. A paper or foil sticker is often the only clue on pieces like this, and it falls off easily. If yours has a second sticker with a company name or a stock number, that would name the importer.
- Bisque, not glaze. The paint is flat and dry-looking, and the white body shows wherever it has worn. A glossy glazed bear is a different piece.
- Wax is part of it. The candle was poured into the barrel, not set in. Copies with the wax burned down or dug out are the same piece.
An orange teddy bear with a red bow beside a tan wood-grain barrel
The bear sits upright with its legs out in front. It is painted rust orange (warm terracotta) all over, with fur sculpted in short grooves and lighter orange on the high points. Its round ears have pale yellow insides, and it has a cream muzzle, a black triangle nose, black dot eyes with white highlights and a small black smile. A bright red bow (true red, painted with folds) sits under its chin, and the red ribbon runs around its neck at the back. Its foot pads and the pad of its raised paw are pale yellow.
The bear leans on a short barrel at its right side. The barrel is pale tan with a pinkish cast, carved with vertical wood-grain staves and two raised hoop bands, one at the rim and one at the foot. It is filled almost to the rim with cloudy white wax holding two wicks.
- Front: bear facing forward, one paw raised and the other down by the barrel, bow centered under the chin.
- Back: sculpted fur over the head and back, the red ribbon around the neck, the barrel's staves and hoops.
- Top of the barrel: cloudy white poured wax, two wicks, wax spilled over part of the rim.
- Bottom: unglazed white; an open hole under the bear's hollow body; the barrel's closed bottom with the round gold sticker and a small raised nub near its edge.
- This copy: paint bright with wear along the bottom edges, dust and lint on the wax, wax drips on the rim, and a bent wick. No chips show in the photos.
MADE IN CHINABlack capitals on a round gold sticker under the barrel. No other marks.
- Vintage teddy bear candle holder
- Teddy bear barrel candle
- Bisque teddy bear red bow
- Ceramic bear with barrel candle
- Teddy bear poured wax candle
- Bear and barrel votive holder
No other copies for sale right now
No other copy of this bear was found for sale on eBay, Etsy or Poshmark on October 29, 2026. Other small painted bisque bear candle holders and poured bear candles were asking about $6 to $25 on eBay, before shipping. Those are different designs, so they are left out here.
About the Bisque Teddy Bear Barrel Candle Holder
Who made this teddy bear barrel candle holder?
It isn't marked. The only label is a round gold "MADE IN CHINA" sticker, with no company name, and no matching copy turned up on eBay, Etsy, Poshmark or in web searches, so the maker or importer is unknown.
How old is it?
There is no date on it. Painted bisque bear candle holders like this were common gift shop items in the 1980s, when Jasco and Enesco sold similar pieces, so a late 20th century date is likely. The China sticker alone can't narrow it further.
Is it bisque or porcelain?
It is bisque: fired white ceramic with no glaze, painted in matte colors. The white body shows on the bottom and where the paint has worn along the edges.
Is it a Cherished Teddies piece?
No. Enesco's Cherished Teddies line has a 1998 Boy with Barrel votive holder (number 353965), but it is a different design with an Enesco mark. This bear has only a Made in China sticker.
What is it worth?
Little. No copy was for sale on October 29, 2026. Other small painted bisque bear candle holders and poured bear candles were asking about $6 to $25 on eBay, before shipping.
- Owner's photos of this piece, including the bottom and the sticker
- eBay search for "teddy bear barrel candle holder", plus searches for "vintage bear barrel candle," "bisque teddy bear red bow candle" and "ceramic bear red bow tie candle holder vintage," none showing this design, October 29, 2026
- Etsy search for "vintage teddy bear barrel candle holder", no match; Poshmark search also no match
- eBay: bear and barrel tea light holder, the closest lookalike, a different design
- eBay: Cherished Teddies 353965 Boy with Barrel votive holder, 1998, for the Enesco lookalike
- eBay: Jasco Sweet Keepers bear candle holder, 1980, for a dated painted bisque bear candle holder made in Taiwan
- Enesco Lucy & Me Santa Bear taper candle holder, 1980, for a second dated 1980 ceramic bear candle holder
- eBay: Christmas tree teddy bear bisque poured candle with lid, an example of poured wax in a painted bisque bear container