Prettier Than A Picture!

Picture the next great Steiff mystery! It might involve an unusual shape, size, or color of one of the company's beloved antique rarities. Or, it just might be about... a photograph. Check out this note from Kathryn from New York about this antique family image of her Grandfather and his Teddy bear. How would you frame your response? She shares:

"I’m sending you this beautiful photo of my grandfather who raised me. Unfortunately we do not have the bear anymore. I’m doing an oil painting of this photo and I want to do justice to the Teddy bear in the picture. I think it looks like a Steiff.

The mystery is why is the tag on the right ear instead of the left? It seems to have all the other features of a Steiff. I was hoping for your thoughts on this if you don’t mind.

My grandpa Henry is of German decent and was born in Jersey City in 1899. The photo was taken by a photographer in New York City. I think he is under the age of 10 in the photo so that would give us an idea of the bears age. I would also like to know the color you think it is for the painting. I started to paint it in a beige color with dark brown nose and lips and black eyes which are hard to see from the angle. This is the clearest copy I can get.

I just think this is such a beautiful photo of a child with his beloved Teddy bear.

I’m anxiously looking forward to hearing what you think. Is it some kind of rare thing? Or is it an imitation?

Thank you for your time and knowledge.
Sincerely, Kathryn" 

Ok, let's first focus our attention on the actual photograph. It is Steiffgal's best thinking that the picture was actually "flipped" at some point. This might have happened years ago, during the printing from the negative, or sometime more recent, via an "electronic" step. If you take the mirror image of the photo, the button is clearly in the right place and in the correct ear. And, if you look really, really closely, Steiffgal thinks you can even make out some part of an ear tag, too. You can see both versions of the photograph in the image here - both the "original" and "mirror" image. 

Now for a little color commentary. Given the hue contrasts, appearance, and scale of the bear in the photograph, it is Steiffgal's best thinking that he is most likely a white Steiff bear in the roughly c. 25 to 35 cm range from the c. 1906-1909 timeframe. And why is that?  

(For reference, here on the left we have two white Steiff cubs from about the same era as Henry's; the big boy is 40 cm tall and the little guy is 22 cm tall.) 

1. First, the date is pretty clear given the information provided by Kathryn. The photo is from about 1909. The bear could have been made a few years earlier than that - as early as about 1906, given its presentation. The Schwarz brothers started carrying Steiff in their stores here in America in 1906, and were the first stores to do so. 

2. Now the size. This has to be estimated purely through "back of the envelope" techniques. Today, an "average" 10 year old boy is 55 inches tall or about 140 cm. Henry could have been much taller, or shorter, than this - there is is no way of knowing. But given he was "average," his bear appears to be roughly about 20 to 25% of his height, putting his bear in at c. 28 to 35 cm tall. And although it's impossible to tell with certainty from the antique picture, it appears that Henry's bear may have a horizontally stitched nose - given there is no "prominent" vertical center stitch visible. This also hints that the bear is less than 40 cm tall. 

3.  And last but not least, his color. The bear is pretty much the "lightest" object in the shot. And his nose is not very dark - like Henry's hair or eyes. This suggests the nose is brown - and in turn, that the bear was white. 

Steiffgal hopes this photograph has given you a delightful snapshot of Steiff's enduring quality and appeal.

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.

Your Jaw Will Drop When You See This Turn Of Last Century Steiff Tom Cat!

Mouth agape! That was exactly Steiffgal's reaction when this turn-of-last-century rarity finally made its way into her Steiff collection. Like every Steiff enthusiast, Steiffgal also has a wish list, and this terrific Tom had been on it forever - until now! Check out this cover boy (really - and more about that later!) and see what makes this fantastic feline so interesting from the historical and design perspectives.

They say orange is the new black, but sometimes being old is in vogue, too! Here on the left is Steiff's original Tom Cat in the smallest sized produced. He is standing, unjointed, and made from jet black velvet. Measured vertically, he's 8 cm from the top of his head to his toes and 10 cm from the top of his tush to his toes. His thin, almost straight tail measures 8 cm long and .5 cm wide - and even more astonishingly - it is stuffed with excelsior! How did they do that, given its scale and configuration? Tom Cat wears his original silken bow and bell. This pattern was produced in 10, 14, and 17 cm from 1903 through 1919 in black velvet, and in 14 and 17 cm in white velvet from 1906 through 1908. This example retains his original blank button, dating his production to around 1905 or 1906.

Face it, you can't look away from Tom Cat's distinctive head design and construction. He comes to life with tiny, triangular shaped ears, black seed bead eyes backed in yellow felt, and an open, pink felt lined mouth. The lining is held in place with tiny pinkish-tan colored stitches - perhaps to resemble teeth? You can see where the seamstress tied the knot of pinkish-tan thread for these stitches on the cat's chin area. This is a tiny but interesting detail; it is not unusual to see an embroidery thread  knot on the face of an early Steiff bear or animal. Tom Cat also retains a number of his clear, monofilament whiskers. One could say he has a face only a (Steiff) mother could love! You can see all of these delicate details on the photo trio above. 

This Tom Cat is truly a headliner - from both aesthetic and well as historical angles. This petite treat was featured in an important photograph from the company's 1904/04 product line catalog. But what's so special about that? It's the same picture that debuted PB55... the world's first jointed Teddy bear! Timing is everything, eh? A snapshot of this catalog page is shown here on the left; you can spot the arched back Tom Cat a little to the right of center standing on top of a donkey on wheels. Given the scale of the items in the image, it is Steiffgal's best guess that the Tom Cat pictured is the 17 cm version. What you can't see on the photo is the cat's intricate mouth construction, but you can make out his bow and bell. This picture is from the Cieslik's Button in Ear The History of the Teddy Bear and His Friends reference book, published in 1989.

Now let's paws and look at the details noted on the photo. According to the hand written notes along the bottom of the page, these original black velvet Tom Cats were 14.40 Deutchmark per twelve. That is VERY ROUGHLY equivalent to $0.30 each in 1903.  This translates to approximately $8.59 in today's US dollars, given inflation and other financial and economic factors. 

Steiffgal hopes this discussion of this rare Tom Cat has left you on your toes for your next great find!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more!