It's the best of all worlds when it comes to Steiff's dressed animal dolls. What could be finer than a darling Steiff dog, cat, rabbit, or other fine beast donned in Steiff couture from head to toe? Steiff's rabbits are very well represented in the company's history of dressed animals. The company's debut dressed rabbit was none other than Beatrix Potter's own beloved Peter Rabbit in 1904! Check out this prewar-era happy hopper - perhaps a distant cousin of Peter? - who sets Steiffgal's heart aflutter every time she looks at him.
Overall, this smallest version of Steiff's begging rabbit boy is simply adorable. He is 17 cm tall (sans ears) and head jointed. He originally was covered in white and tan mohair, but now he's simply a bare hare. He has mile long, narrow feet with red embroidered claws, downturned arms, a tiny upcurved tail, and oversized, floppy ears not lined in wires. He comes to life with oversized brown and black glass pupil eyes placed low on his face and Steiff's signature 1920s-era rabbit facial embroidery. This includes a "v" shaped nose and an upside down "v" shaped mouth in one color, and horizontal stitches filling in the "v" shaped nose in another color. You can see a close up of this stitching in the photo at the bottom of this post. Dressed rabbit retains his long trailing "f" button and traces of his red ear tag as his Steiff IDs.
You can't help but notice this bun's all original and darling playsuit. His well-constructed pants have tiny faux front pockets, contrasting tan colored stitching, back black snaps, and a perfectly placed opening for his tail. This model in this outfit appeared in the catalog from 1929-1932 in 17, 22, 28, and 35 cm.
Given their short time in the line, and probably low production numbers, these dressed, prewar, begging Steiff rabbit dolls are amazingly rare. This is only one of a handful in blue overalls Steiffgal has ever seen or handled. Steiffgal purchased this guy at a UFDC national event salesroom a few years ago. More recently, in January, 2023, a medium sized one hammered at auction for 750 euro/841 USD. This model was also produced in five other outfits; these included a red skirt and white apron, a purple jacket, a red skirt and purple jacket, a red and white dress, or a pink dress. In 2010, Christie's sold one of these rarities dressed in the red skirt and white apron for 1,625 GBP.
Steiffgal hopes you enjoyed this clothes encounter with this well dressed prewar rabbit!
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