The Top Lot Winners From The Susan Kilgore Wiley Steiff Auction Are...

Wow! Talk about a bear-affair! Steiffgal's head is spinning over the results of the Steiff auction held on January 21st through Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion GmbH. This sale, which included the first half of the Susan Kilgore Wiley collection, included 195 premier lots, lasted nearly 5 hours long, and had a 99% sell through rate! It hammered at $381,000, with buyer's premiums varying across different selling platforms. Here are the three top selling lots from the sale, and what might have made them so sought after from the collector's perspective.

Here's a hot tip... Steiff's Petsy bears seem to continue to capture the hearts, imaginations, and wallets of collectors worldwide! Lot #6115, a magnificent Petsy the Baby Bear, was the gold medal winner in this exciting sale. He generated 50 bids and hammered at a breathtaking $57,772. He was cataloged in part as:

"One of the highlights of the auction, Petsy-bear, in unused condition, with button, block letters, long trailing f, minimally rests of the white cloth tag label, big ears, seam at the middle of the head, felt paws in very good condition, long snapped off arms, clearly hump, 45 cm, very nice strong colors, exceptional."

So what made this Ted so desirable at auction? Most importantly, more than one collector was determined to add him to their hug! Clearly, he was in wonderful condition, with great coloration, and IDs. He also must had that "X" factor that really called to his new owner. Petsy bears traditionally do really well at auction, especially at Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion. In July, 2022, they sold a most impressive 74 cm version of Petsy for $45,782. Steiffgal also believes that Mrs. Wiley's Petsy has set a new world's record price for a Teddy bear sold at auction in the 21st century.

Taking the silver slot at this Steiff sale was another version of Petsy, this time on a four wooden wheeled cart. This was lot #6071, an astonishingly rare Record Petsy. It hammered at $21,801 and generated nearly 100 bids! He was cataloged in part as:

"Rare Record-Petsy, produced around 1928-1929, length: 25 cm, brown pointed mohair, blue glass eyes, bright embroidering at snout, with seam at the middle of head, with button, block letters, long trailing f, minimally rests of the white cloth tag label, smaller mohair loss at the thighs and at the hand, very nice strong colors of the mohair, red wood wheels, extremely expressive."

Clearly, this Petsy on the go was the wheel deal! Record Petsy was made in 20 or 25 cm from 1928-1929 only. According to Cieslik's Button In Ear reference book, only 1,462 examples were made. Steiffgal has only seen two of these - ever! Unlike full bodied Petsy bears which do appear with some regularity on the secondary market, this prewar pull toy version is the only example Steiffgal can find that EVER appeared online at public sale. That - plus his irresistible presentation - certainly help to explain why he raised so many paddles during this amazing button-in-ear event.

The bronze medal at last weekend's event goes to lot #6187, Steiff's smallest (and arguably cutest!) prewar Record Teddy. It hammered at $8,829 and generated 90 bids. He was cataloged in part as:

"Rare Record teddy, in the small manufactured size, height: 10 cm, 1924-1927, on a self-propelling vehicle with motion, with original drawstring, with button, block letters, long trailing f, glass eyes, a little bit flash rust, mohair is a bit thin."

Again, collectors always seem to go into fifth gear when it comes to Steiff's prewar wheeled novelties. This is the smallest sized version Steiff ever made of its legacy Record Teddy pattern. He really translated well into miniature form, so his petite scale and irresistible presentation most certainly added to his bottom line at this sale. Like his cousin Record Petsy, this guy is amazingly rare - The only other tiny Record Teddy Steiffgal nows of sold at Christies in 2010 for 6,250 GBP.

Steiffgal hopes this auction review has perhaps bid up your interest in future Steiff sales!

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This Marvelous Prewar Steiff Girl is Made of Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice!

A "rosa" by any other name... would ALMOST be as beautiful as this sweet Steiff doll! Steiffgal recently had the pleasure of handling a very vintage button-in-ear doll that came from a fine and well curated collection down south. Take a look at this lovely lady in red... and be tickled pink, for sure!

Here we have Steiff's charming Rosa girl. She is 28 cm tall, fully jointed, and made from felt. She has a short blonde inset wig, proportional blue and black glass pupil eyes, and a prominent vertical facial seam. Her perfectly to scale nose is dimensional and she has painted eyebrows. Rosa wears a red felt dirndl style dress with black trim, a white cotton blouse, white apron, a white underskirt and underwear, knit socks, red shoes, and a red felt hat that perfectly matches her dress. Steiffgal believes the tan lace on her dress is probably replaced. Rosa retains her tiny long trailing "f" Steiff button in-ear. This beautifully attired doll appeared in the line in 28, 35, 43, 50, 60, and 75 cm from 1908-1926 overall. So this example is the smallest standard sized produced.

Rosa has a few features that make her particularly interesting from the timeline and product development perspectives.

First is her facial stitching. In addition to her vertical center seam, she has small horizontal seams near her eyes. Steiff specifically added in this design feature to their line of proportional and endearing "children" line, starting around 1908. These extra seams gave the face a pleasing roundness and further emphasized its youthful symmetry.  

Second are her hands. Rosa has simple, rounded embroidered style hands, suggesting that she was made at the earliest point in her production timeline. Steiff's first dolls had hands that looked more like fists; "fingers" were indicated by embroidery stitches. You can see this in the photo here on the left. By 1910 or so, most Steiff dolls had "conventional" style hands, with prominent and individual fingers.

And finally is her blouse. Her white cotton shirt fits perfectly, and is correct to her period and design, but is slightly different than the one pictured in the standard Steiff reference books. Rosa's shirt has lace and lots of tucks and details; the one pictured in Pfeiffer's Sortiment is much plainer. Rosa's shirt may be a replacement, or not. This doll model appeared in the line for nearly two decades. Over the years, clothing styles on dolls tended to be updated a bit, and generally were simplified over time. This was usually for cost savings, labor savings, and/or supply chain management issues. Because Rosa was probably "born" around 1908-1909, it is possible that she is wearing a fancy, original blouse that was streamlined to a more simple version over time. Only she knows for sure!

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's Rosa has brought a bouquet of happiness to your day.

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