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On June 29, 2019, Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion GmbH auction house held their annual Steiff summer sales event associated with the Steiff company's annual Steiff Sommer event in Giengen, Germany. 146 fine and interesting Steiff lots were on offer; all but one sold. Although there were a handful of "bargains," many items delivered extraordinary results - sometimes 5 or even 10 times over estimate!
One of the sale's unusual treasures really caught Steiffgal's eye, and heart. It was lot #33, an odd but extremely appealing late pre-war era doll. It was cataloged as...
Estimated at €800 - €1,600, it hammered for €6,500 with 46 bids; with the 22% buyer's premium it traded hands at €7,930 or just over $9,000.
And just what makes this little felt Sprite (Wichtel translates to "Imp" from German to English) so hugely interesting? He is an otherwise unknown example of the company's mid 1930s - early 1950s pressed felt face doll production. These dolls were made without Steiff's traditional center seam construction. With these dolls, their detailed and textured faces held their molded form via a plastic interior support mask.
Many collectors are aware of Steiff's little boy and girl pressed felt face dolls from this time frame. These were made in 35 and 43 cm; all had felt bodies, jointed heads and legs, and dangling arms. Their faces were detailed with delicate, hand painted facial features, rosy cheeks, glass or painted pupil eyes, and mohair wigs. Their removable clothing, including lace-trimmed underwear, was beautifully tailored with a look of cheery childhood innocence. And, true to Steiff tradition, the girls all had fine shoes and hats. Steiff also introduced a few pressed felt faced dolls in regional or cultural costumes at the same time. You can see a small collection of these precious beauties above.
Steiff also used this seamless, pressed felt form on a few lesser known items of the late 1930s and early 1940s. The three that Steiffgal knows of are...
3. A 30 cm brown mohair chimpanzee (1937-40). The chimp is pictured here on the left, the photo is from Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment.
It appears that Purzel/Wichtel has a few similar features to other Steiff pressed felt items of the era. These include his size (same as the standard line children and clown dolls), sewn on ears (like the chimps and the clowns), and black and white glass cartoon eyes (like the Lucky Dog good luck doll.) However, Purzel/Wichtel is five ways jointed, while the other items, except for the chimp, are not. This implies that he might have been designed as a higher end or more expensive model.
It is not clear why Purzel/Wichtel, or other dolls like him in his series, were never produced on a commercial scale. It is safe to assume that he was quite costly and labor intensive to manufacture, given his full jointing, elaborate facial detailing, and top-tier materials. That, and given the German geopolitical and socioeconomic realities of the era, hint that that there would be little demand, and little profit, associated with a "luxury" item of this sort. Needless to say, Purzel/Wichtel is not on his way to join Steiffgal's hug, and that hurts her heart just a little. But as all optimistic collectors say, "the next great find is just around the corner."
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