Now that's one pretty kitty! Steiffgal recently had the pleasure of meeting a spectacular early Steiff cat. Her details and design simply took her breath away. Take a look at this early Steiff sitting sweetheart and see what makes her so special from the design and collector's perspectives.
It's easy to color your world with this lovely 1920's era Steiff cat. Her name is Fluffy, and she was introduced in 1926. Fluffy is sitting, unjointed, and made in part from bluish tipped mohair, which is just spectacular. Her little tail wraps sweetly around her body. Fluffy's face is detailed with large deep turquoise green and black pupil eyes and a simple hand embroidered pink nose and mouth. This pink stitching may have been some restoration work, but accurately reflects the size and shape of her original features. Her claws are also embroidered in red. This kitty retains her 8mm trailing "f" Steiff button and bits of her red ear tag.
Talk about the cat's meow! Fluffy was such a favorite that she was produced in nine standard sizes, as well as on a pincushion, as a music box, and as a tail turns head model. Fluffy appeared in the line through 1950. Her design was slowly replaced by Susi, another favorite sitting style cat, who was a line standard through 1978.
Fluffy has details that quite typical of other products Steiff created during "the roaring 20's" - or in this case, the "meowing 20's! Items designed and produced during this decade tended to have large, childlike eyes; bright colors or details, playful textures, and a distinctly feminine touch to them. Perfect examples of this include Steiff's Molly the Puppy (introduced in 1925), Teddy Rose (introduced in 1925), Teddy Clown (introduced in 1926), Charly the King Charles Spaniel (introduced in 1928) and Bully the Bulldog (introduced in 1927). All also had collars or ribbons, adding to their festive presentation.
Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Fluffy has been the cat's meow for you.
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