You'll Be All Ears Over This Tiny Prewar Steiff Fox Terrier!

Size defies with this couldn't-be-cuter baby Steiff pup! Steiffgal has a thing for smaller scaled Steiff pets, like cats and dogs. Probably because they pose so well with other larger Teddy bear and doll companions. And you can never have enough friends - especially these days! Check out this happy handful and see what makes him so irresistible and interesting from several perspectives!

What we have here is Steiff's late 1920s era Foxy Fox Terrier. He is 10 cm tall, standing, head jointed, and made from white mohair. He has very distinctive jet black mohair ears. His face comes to life with proportional brown and black glass pupil eyes, a black hand embroidered nose and mouth, and black and orange airbrushing around one eye. He also has traces of black airbrushed highlights around the base of his tail. He wears a red collar, but it is not original to him. This darling design was produced in 10, 14, 17, 20, and 22 cm from 1929-1933 overall.

This pup's IDs are very helpful in dating him. Foxy retains his somewhat rare brass colored trailing "f" button and traces of his yellow ear tag as his IDs. This brass button appeared on some Steiff items from around 1933/34 through 1943. The yellow ear tag debuted on Steiff items starting in the early 1930s. Given all this, it is Steiffgal's best guess that this Foxy pup was "born" at the very end of his production timeline.

This fine Foxy was made at a transitional period in Steiff's product development history. It is interesting to note that just prior to his introduction in 1929, Steiff debuted another Fox Terrier named Foxy in 1928. You can see this Foxy from 1928 in the photo here on the left; the image is from Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment. The 1928 Foxy design really reflected the playful and optimistic aesthetic of the "roaring 1920s." Like many of the new design introductions of the mid to late 1920s, the 1928 Foxy was very youthful, soft, and playful in design. He had chubby proportions, a round head, oversized eyes placed low on his broad forehead, and a silly felt tongue. He also had distinctive black mohair ears. This "roaring 20s" inspired design was produced sitting and standing through 1933.

Around 1930, Steiff's product design priorities started to take an entirely different direction than those of the 1920s. Items distributed through the early 1940s tended to be more streamlined, serious, lifelike, and proportional. This probably had something to do with the socio-economic and political realities happening in Germany at the time. The 1929 Foxy under discussion today shares some of the characteristics of his 1928 relative, but is scaled to real life, has smaller eyes, a leaner head shape, and is a bit more pensive in appearance. What a difference a year makes!

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on this petite prince has been a regal learning experience for you.

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