Please say "howdy, partner" to this remarkable Steiff rarity! Steiff's turn of last century dolls have always been Steiffgal's passion. So when she got to handle this rarity, things got pretty wild - but in the best way possible. Check out this mustached marvel and see what makes him WAH-HOO good for so many reasons.Well, hello handsome! This fellow is named Mexican Cowboy. He is 40 cm tall and fully joined. His head and lower arms are made from felt, and the rest of his body is made from a linen-like material. His weathered face is detailed with black button eyes, a black mohair mustache, a little pink highlighting, black painted eyebrows, and a prominent center facial seam. His fabulous black curly hair is an inset wig and is made from mohair. He retains his long trailing "f" button in ear as his Steiff ID. Mexican Cowboy is dressed to the nines in his (almost) all factory original outfit. It includes a red cotton shirt with tan stitching, wide tan mohair chaps with an open back, and really well made black leather boots. His leather belt with silver detailing is replaced, but perfectly scaled to him. He also wore a blue chambray bandana around his neck, but this has been lost to time. This hard working hunk was produced overall in 40, 45, 55, 70, 100, and 150 cm from 1912 through 1921 overall. The largest ones were most certainly made as display dolls, as they would have been too large and heavy for a child to play with.
Mexican Cowboy is noted in Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment as to be in "national costume" and representing a category called "nation types." Steiffgal suspects that he was produced in conjunction with the company's c. 19-teen era Schlopsnies Circus project. This large scale, dynamic, and extremely popular exhibit was designed and executed by Steiff doll freelancer Albert Schlopsnies. It consisted of over 30 circus themed dolls and acrobats, based on real life performers at the world famous Circus Sarrasani of Dresden, Germany. This amazing display garnered a worldwide following and certainly helped in elevating Steiff's dollmaking reputation to global status. One of the elements that made the Circus Sarrasani so popular, and unique, was its roster of international talent. Original posters, broadsides, photos, and other promotional ephemera from the Circus Sarrasani spotlighted ethnic performers in native costumes, including South American Cowboys, Asian gymnasts, and American Indians, among many others. You can see an example of this on the left. This important detail was noted by Schlopsnies, who included authentic versions of these global ambassadors in his Steiff doll interpretation of the Circus. Steiffgal suspects, given the production timeline of the Mexican Cowboy and the Steiff circus project, that he was in fact produced as part of circus project to bring its important "international" angle to life. And, given all that, it is entirely possible that this doll is based on a real life Mexican Cowboy who appeared in the Circus Sarrasani around 1912 or so.
Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's Mexican Cowboy doll has been a stampede of fun for you!
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