Dealer drawn to rarities made for holding on to

W. Richard Wright Jr., 62, of Chester Springs, an antiques dealer who was an expert on vintage dolls and teddy bears, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease March 1 at home.

Mr. Wright's shop in Birchrunville, Chester County, was filled floor to ceiling with furniture, Victoriana, art deco and art nouveau curios, teddy bears, and French and German dolls.

Upstairs were cardboard boxes of what Mr. Wright jokingly called "dead bodies" - torsos, arms, legs, and heads of antique dolls. Doll restorer Meriel Marlar, who like other employees worked for Mr. Wright for many years, specialized in rebuilding papier-mache, repairing wooden dolls, making sheepskin wigs, patching mohair teddy bears, and generally reviving the "dead bodies."

Part of the appeal of collecting antique dolls, Mr. Wright told an Inquirer reporter in 1988, was that "they've got a lot of charisma. Where thousands have been smashed, these, for some reason, survived."

When asked if it troubled him that people would spend $22,000 for a doll, Mr. Wright responded: "It's a better investment than a car." He said a teddy bear or a doll could be sold to help pay off a second mortgage or fund a college education.

Mr. Wright, who bought his first teddy bear when he was 10, set records in the 1980s for prices he paid for teddy bears - and prices he sold them for.

He would sell items for six figures and others for a dollar, said Andy Ourant, an antiques dealer and auctioneer who was a longtime friend.

Mr. Wright was a guest appraiser of dolls and teddy bears on PBS's Antiques Roadshow. He was a past chairman of the National Antique Doll Dealers Association.

A native of Chester County, Mr. Wright was the only child of used-furniture dealers Muriel and W. Richard Wright Sr. After graduating from Great Valley High School in Malvern, he accompanied his parents on a buying trip to England. He stayed behind in London and started filling containers with dolls, antiques, and furniture to ship back to Pennsylvania.

"He was a rocker and hippie and part of the whole '60s Carnaby Street thing," said Ourant's wife, Becky. "He wore long, flowing Edwardian coats over boots and bell bottom jeans and lots of jewelry."

He befriended many musicians and helped manage a Fleetwood Mac road tour, she said, and babysat band member Mick Fleetwood's children.

In the 1970s, Mr. Wright returned to Pennsylvania and worked out of his parents' shop in Chester Springs. He eventually took over the business and moved it to a former bakery and general store in Birchrunville in 1982.

He kept up friendships with musicians, Becky Ourant said, and they often visited him.

Mr. Wright is survived by his companion of more than 11 years, Glenn Stevens.

They met in San Francisco, where Mr. Wright was taping Antiques Roadshow. Stevens, a retired accountant, became Mr. Wright's office manager. As a respite from the hectic pace of antiques shows and buying and selling, Stevens said, they relaxed on vacations in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; San Francisco; New Orleans; and Negril, Jamaica.

Mr. Wright's chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was diagnosed in 2007, and he quit his 32-year smoking habit. "He wanted everyone to quit," Stevens said, "but he wouldn't confront his friends about it or make them feel uncomfortable."

He is also survived by two aunts and several cousins.

A memorial service will be scheduled in the spring.

Memorial donations may be made to the Gamma Mu Foundation, which supports subpopulations such as youths, seniors, and victims of domestic violence, at 1975 E. Sunrise Blvd., Suite 624, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33304.