Three Cheers For The Upcoming March, 2015 Teddy Dorado Steiff Auction Event!

And we're off! The first major Steiff auction of 2015 is just around the corner! And as always, our good friends at Teddy Dorado have done a marvelous job of gathering the most interesting Steiff treasures for this upcoming event, which will be held on March 21st, 2015 in Bonn, Germany.  The sale certainly has something for everyone.  Although it's always hard to pick highlights when there are so many fun choices, here are three Steiff temptations that truly set Steiffgal's heart all-aflutter!

Steiffgal's first Teddy Dorado auction favorite is lot #14-7004, a Teddy Baby bear from 1934–1936.  His description, roughly translated from German, reads:  "This cub is made from corn colored mohair and has brown and black glass eyes.  His nose and claws are hand embroidered in brown and he has an open, felt lined mouth. His four original paw pads are in good condition and are made from flesh colored, felt like material; his flat feet are lined in cardboard.  He is five ways jointed, firmly stuffed with excelsior, and has a squeeze voice. He retains his original blue leather collar with a bell and a ff button in his ear.  In terms of condition, his left arm is dirty and he has some play wear to him, but is otherwise is in well maintained shape.  He measures 27 cm tall and 22 cm sitting."

And just what makes this such a beautiful baby?  He is a great size, and also from a very interesting time in Steiff's manufacturing timeline.  Starting in the the mid-1930's, Steiff started experiencing shortages in basic materials including felt, which was being used for uniforms and other military purposes.  As such, items from this time through the very early 1950's often had substitute materials as part of their construction.  Such is the case here with this Teddy Baby with "flesh colored, felt-like material" in the place of wool felt pads, the traditional material for pads.  You can see a close up of this material here on the left.

The next Teddy Dorado auction item that really catches Steiffgal's eye is lot #14-7015, a brown silk plush bear from 1941-1948.  His description, roughly translated from German, reads:  "This Teddy Bear has brown and black glass eyes, and a brown, hand embroidered nose, mouth, and claws.  His four paw pads are made from coarsely woven, felt like fabric.  Teddy is five ways jointed and firmly stuffed with excelsior.  He has a press voice and a shiny ff button in his ear.  It is suspected that he was not produced with a chest tag. This item does not appear in any Steiff catalog. His fur is in nice condition.  He has a small home-repaired cut to his right hand paw pad, but is otherwise in very good to excellent condition.  He measures 30.5 cm tall and 21 cm sitting."

Steiffgal's certain that she's not the only one who finds this bear a wonderful sweet treat!  Like his Teddy Baby cousin noted above, this bear was also produced at a challenging time in Steiff's history.  However, unlike Teddy Baby who just has substitute material paw pads, this Teddy bear is entirely made from alternative fabrics including silk plush for his body and coarsely woven fabric for his pads. The amazing thing about this bear - however - is that despite his relatively poor quality fabrics, and the socio-political climate of his production era, he still looks unmistakably Steiff and clearly demonstrates the same attention to detail and manufacturing integrity that Steiff is famous for.  These rare period bears are very interesting to collectors; a slightly smaller but quite similar non-cataloged brown artificial silk plush Teddy bear with ID sold for over $2,800 at James D. Julia in 2014.

Because Steiff and celebrations go hand in hand, this final top pick from the Teddy Dorado auction takes the cake - literally!  Here we have lot #14-2006 a set of five woolen miniature birds from 1968-1974 dressed up as a wedding party.  This set, and sets like it, were very special in-house productions for Steiff employee weddings, and were designed to go on the top of a wedding cake!  The set consists of two Finches (article number 7103/04) as "bridesmaids" wearing lacy bow head wear; one Finch (7113/08) as the bride in a bridal veil with flowers; and two Sparrows (article number 7115/08) as the groom and best man.  Both are wearing black felt hats. All the birds are made from colorful Nomotta wool, are head jointed, and are detailed with black button eyes and plastic legs and beaks.  The entire set is in excellent condition with each bird retaining its tiny Steiff button and yellow label; these are worn like bracelets around their tiny legs. 

From the collector's perspective, one thing that is really cool about this auction house is that they often get really interesting things to sell from current or former Steiff employees.  These are fabulous items that might have been made as samples or in-house gifts, or company recognition items - not made for collectors. Steiffgal has the wonderful pleasure of owning two of these special treasures - a set of elephants from the Teddy Dorado 2012 Steiff Sommer Auction.  The bird wedding set is clearly an example of these "Giengen Specials!" This completely adorable grouping is most likely based on a much earlier Steiff edition called the Vogelhochzeit or Bird Wedding.  This item, which was produced from 1936-1940, consisted of four standard line woolen miniature birds mounted on a green oval shaped board.  The "bride" wore a long white veil; the "groom" wore a black felt top hat; and the two attending "bridesmaids" wore flowers and carried the train of the bride's veil in their beaks.  All had charming, tiny felt slippers.  A picture of the pre-war wedding party is pictured here to the left; the photo is from Gunther Pfeiffer's 1892-1943 Sortiment book. 

Steiffgal hopes this review of the March, 2015 Teddy Dorado Steiff auction has been an event in itself for you! 

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more. 

Size Defies When It Comes To Steiff's Adorable Woolen Miniature Mice!

With  just a handful of summer left, Steiffgal thought it might be fun to take little look at one of Steiff's legacy products that truly would fit in the palm of your hand!  It seems that everyone just loves Steiff's woolen miniatures, and for good reason!  They are completely adorable, gorgeously designed, and of course, don't take up too much room (which tends to be an issue the larger one's collection becomes!)  Perhaps the cutest - in Steiffgal's humble opinion - woolies are Steiff's tiny mice.  Check out this tiny two-some and perhaps you'll agree as well!

Size defies when it comes to these lifelike, miniature master pieces!  Here we have an albino white mouse and a grey mouse.  Both are cataloged as 4 cm, made from wool yarn, are standing on all fours, have long tails, and are head jointed.  Their petite feet, which each have four toes, are made of peach colored felt.  Their tiny faces come to life with airbrushed-highlighted felt ears, playful whiskers, bead eyes, and pink painted noses and mouths.  The grey mouse on the left was produced from 1931 through 1943 overall; he also came in white and brown.  The white mouse on the right was made from 1949 though 1984 overall and also came in grey.

Both mice sport IDs which are appropriate for their era of production.  The white mouse has a tiny raised script button and article number 7354/04 (suggesting a specific 1968 through 1984 manufacture date) while the grey mouse has a tiny trailing F button and article number 2504,1 (suggesting a specific 1937 through 1943 manufacturing date.)  These items never had chest tags, and as far as Steiffgal can see, no woolen miniatures ever did.  However, a handful of woolen miniatures are perhaps the only items in the entire Steiff history of production that did not leave the factory with a “button in ear.” Even birds, which clearly lack ears, had a button securing their label around their leg. Woolie ladybugs and hedgehogs do not, and never had, Steiff buttons. There was simply no place to attach them. But their look, feel, and manufacturing make them undoubtedly Steiff.

It is always fun with Steiff to track how designs change - or don't - over time.  This is especially true with beloved and popular items that are produced over a long period, even decades... as is in the case of these mice!  In general, with these two babies, it is clear that their core, basic pattern did not change over time.  And, given that both mice weigh 5 g, that the critical mass of the pattern remained constant over time.  However, there are a few very subtle differences between them.  These include:

• Their length from nose to fanny.  The white mouse measures 5 cm while the grey mouse measures 4 cm. 

• Their tails.  The white mouse has an 8 cm tail made from solid peach colored rubber.  The grey mouse has an 8.5 cm tail made from grayish-black stretchy elastic, like an elastic band.  You can see a close up of their tails in the photo above on the left.

•  Their whiskers.  The white mouse has numerous long, flexible, clear whiskers, while the grey mouse has just a handful of very short, stiff, brownish whiskers.

Let's talk about the size difference first.  Because each Steiff item is made by hand, it is entirely possible that size differences are a result of the touch of individual craftspeople.  It is also conceivable - because each mouse weighs the same (and clearly their bodies make up most of their mass) - that the composition of the woolen fibers used on these items changed over time, and/or aged differently.  

Now their tails and whiskers.  These differences are most likely attributable to materials available on hand at the time of their production, as well as manufacturing improvements to those materials over the decades. It is most interesting that the older grey mouse's tail, which is made from a stretchy material, has not dried out, cracked, or fallen off - which happens alot with older rubber items.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion on Steiff's tiny woolen mice has made a huge and happy difference in your day!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.  

It's Easy To Love Steiff's Woolen Miniatures In A Really Big Way!

Sometimes just a little bit is more than enough!  And that is the case when it comes to Steiff's delightful woolen miniatures.  These petite and precious treasures, which are amazingly constructed and pack so much detail into so little space, have been collector's favorites since their introduction in 1931.  Steiffgal recently welcomed several new, somewhat unusual wonderful woolies into her collection.  Take a big look at these tiny treats - perhaps you'll fall in love with them, too!

Let's kick things off with this adorable "pet set."  Here we have Steiff's woolen miniature guinea pig and hamster.  Both are 6 cm, made from woolen yarn, with peach colored felt ears and double thick white felt front feet.  Both the guinea pig and hamster have black button eyes and clear mono filament whiskers.  The guinea pig is white, black, and orange while the hamster is golden yellow and white.  They are basically the same design in different colors with one finishing difference:  the hamster has a tiny white felt tail while the guinea pig is tail-less.  Both these items never had chest tags. Guinea pig appeared in the line from 1973 through 1980 and hamster from 1973 through 1979; both were made in this size only.

This next woolie will certainly bug you, but that's ok in this case.  Here we have Steiff's woolen cockchafer, also known as a may bug or beetle.  He is 4 cm and made of brown, white, and black yarn.  His underside and six legs are formed from a thin piece of brown dye-cut plastic.  He has a tiny black woolen tail.  His head most interestingly is made from a round black plastic bead, which is finished with two black string antennae.  Cockchafer was manufactured from 1969 through 1974 in this size only; he is one of the very few Steiff items that never had a Steiff button or tag.

Here we have a very small bundle of joy.  This lovely item is Steiff's woolen stork.  She is 11 cm, standing, and made from pure white woolen yarn.  Her tail feathers are scalloped and made from black felt, and her long legs and toe-d feet are red plastic.  Her tiny face is detailed with black button eyes and an orange plastic beak - which would be perfect to hold a tiny new baby! Her neck contains a flexible metal wire so it is somewhat poseable.  This item never had a chest tag as there was no place to put it. Stork was manufactured from 1970 through 1977 in this size only.  

It's always fun to hang out with Steiff, and this last item really illustrates that point.  Here we have Steiff's highly kinetic "Woolen Coral Reef Fish Mobile."  The mobile consists of five little woolen miniature fish that are carefully balanced and weighted on tan strings and thin metal wires to create this hanging piece of art.  The fish themselves are 7 cm each and made from colorful woolen yarns.  Each has black plastic fins, large brown and black pupil eyes, and a large, smiling, felt mouth.  The fish are primarily blue, yellow, green, orange, and red, and all have their button and yellow flag on their top fin area. This set appeared from 1969 through 1975 packaged in a square plastic box.  This marvelous mobile hangs playfully from Steiffgal's dining room chandelier and is a constant source of food for thought - no pun intended!

Steiffgal hopes this discussion of unusual Steiff post war woolen miniatures has helped to brighten your day in a big way.

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.   

This Delightful Steiff Diorama Deserves A Standing Ovation!

Some wonderful Steiff finds can't help but give collectors the "warm fuzzies," and today's main attraction does that seven times over! Check out this remarkable vintage Steiff diorama that not only features amazing woolen miniature treasures, but also has a very special history. This great piece is one of the auction highlights at the upcoming Teddy Dorado Steiff Auction, which will be held on October 26th in Bonn, Germany.

It's time to set the stage for this amazing Steiff scenery.  Overall, seven Nomotta woolen miniatures grace the item's green oval felt mat, which measures 23 cm long by 13 cm wide.  The mat is wrapped with a lilac colored, ruffled silk ribbon.  The stars of this show include:

1. A 4 cm red and green robin with metal legs and a grey felt beak and tail; this design appeared in the Steiff line from 1934 through 1943 in 4 and 8 cm. 
2. A 4 cm brown squirrel with a bushy tail and prominent felt ears; this item did not appear in any Steiff catalog and was most likely a sample or experimental product that was never produced commercially.
3. A 4 cm pink pig with brown airbrushing, a brown felt tail, and a good luck green felt clover; like the squirrel there was no mention of this item in any of the standard Steiff reference materials.
4. A 6 cm drake drake with webbed style orange metal feet, an orange felt beak, and a delightful white head pompom; this pattern was produced in this size only from 1934 through 1943 and came with and without orange felt slippers.
5. A 3 cm ladybug with a red body and white and black head;  this design appeared in the Steiff line from 1934 through 1943 in 3 and 4 cm. 
6. A 4 cm blue, yellow, and white blue tit bird with metal legs and a felt beak and tail; this design appeared in the Steiff line from 1934 through 1943 in 4 and 8 cm. 
7. A 4 cm sitting grey and white Schnauzer - perhaps a Rattler in miniature? - with black bead eyes and tiny felt ears; like the squirrel and pig, this woolen miniature did not appear in any Steiff literature.   

So what's the storyline behind this exceptional and unique vignette? The piece itself was produced in 1935 as a farewell gift to a Steiff Manager named Mr. Rathgeber when he left the organization to start his own company in a a village right next to Giengen.  This company is still in business today and now manufactures woven strapping for industrial and manufacturing purposes.  

As luck would have it, when Mr. Rathgeber's daughter grew up, she married a Protestant priest and moved to Bonn, the same town where Teddy Dorado is located.  The daughter learned about Teddy Dorado by reading an article in the local newspaper about the auction house.  The daughter went to Teddy Dorado to share her family story about growing up in Giengen.  She also felt it was time to move this treasure along into the hands of a Steiff collector, where it could be loved and appreciated.  As a result, she consigned this diorama to Teddy Dorado, to be auctioned off and shared with the world.  

Collectors can't help but want a front row seat to this exceptional display.  Although none of the elements of the piece have any Steiff ID, it is undeniably made by Steiff and comes with full family provenance.  It is interesting to ponder why the workers at Steiff chose these exact seven items in these sizes to decorate this "going away" gift.  Some items clearly reflect good luck and fortune - like the pig and the ladybug - while others suggest new beginnings and resourcefulness, like the birds and the squirrel.  But the Schnauzer?  Perhaps Mr. Rathgeber had a dog, or liked this particular breed.  These mysteries only adds to the delight and charm of this truly one of a kind treasure.  For more information and photos on this piece, check out the official catalog listing by clicking here.

Steiffgal hopes this discussion concerning Mr. Rathgeber's diorama coming up for auction soon has added a "lot" of interest to the piece for you!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures, found on an adventure or otherwise? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.

Life's Just A Party When It Comes To Vintage Steiff

Every day can be a party when it comes to vintage Steiff!  And nothing could be closer to the truth than last weekend, when Steiffgal invited a few collector friends from the New England area to gather at her home for an afternoon of all things Steiff!  The happening included a tour of Steiffgal's personal collection, a sales table chock full of exciting new vintage items just acquired from two collections, an identification and valuation clinic, and of course seasonal treats and refreshments - including Steiffguy's homemade pretzels!  Here's a little summary of the highlights of this memorable occasion.

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Nothing says "welcome" like a family of life sized Steiff donkeys, right?  These two "great Grissys" (as well as a few live pug dogs) greeted our beloved visitors as they arrived at the event.

Everyone had the opportunity to add a few choice items to their collection from the huge range of items available on the sales table.  Steiffgal spent the week prior to the event cataloging, cleaning, and preparing each of these 175 goodies for their grand debut.  Of course, the large monkey in the background is not Steiff, but hired nonetheless to stand guard over the precious treasures.

Almost all of our Steiff friends brought delightful goodies for evaluation as well as group discussion.  Here are some wonderful highlights from this "show and tell" session. 

This little guy is simply a handful of puppy love!  This woolie wonder measures about 4 cm tall and 8 cm long and is made from white Nomotta wool.  He has felt ears, tiny pupil eyes, and a little black nose.  He is detailed with the tiniest red collar!  He is either a white Scotty or a Sealyham; both these patterns were almost identical and made in 8, 10, 14, and 16 cm the 1935 through 1941 time frame.

There's no need to be sheepish about this next visitor.  Here we have Steiff's woolen miniature Lamm or Lamb.  Like her sweet puppy friend mentioned above, she is also made from white Nomotta wool.  Her insides are lined in wire, so she is somewhat poseable.  Lamb has charming pink highlights on her nose and paws.  Her face is detailed with little eyes and felt ears, and she wears a tiny pink bow.  Lamb was produced in 7 and 10 cm in black and white in the 1935 through 1941 time frame.  

Now this is a find worthy of royalty, really!  Here we have what Steiff calls a Spitz or Pomeranian dog. This pensive looking puppy was produced from 1902 though 1927 in 14, 17, 22, 28, 35, and 43 cm. Spitz is sitting and made from long white curly mohair with a white felt face, ears, and legs below his hips. He has black shoe button eyes and embroidered facial features.  He is wearing a bell collar and painted pink ribbon which are period and authentic, but not original to him.  Most likely, when he was new, this Spitz featured a red cord with two pom-poms or tassels around his neck, giving him a “regal” appearance. The breed does have some connections to German royalty, which may explain why Steiff decorated them like “little kings.” This classic design was also produced in several other variations, including a jointed standing version, as a pup on wheels, and as a pincushion on a red velvet pillow. 

Let's paws and take a look at this next beloved Steiff guest, who is just about purrr-fect in every way. This is of course a fantastic example of Steiff's "Fluffy" cat. She 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 deep green and black pupil eyes and a simple pink hand embroidered red nose and mouth. And check out her fantastic early named metal ring chest tag!  Sitting Fluffy was made overall from 1926 through 1950 in 7, 10, 14, 17, 22, 25, 30, 35, and 43 cm. She was such a favorite that she was produced on a pincushion, as a music box, and as a tail turns head model.  

You can't help but feel lovey-dovey when it comes to this final Steiff masterpiece.  Here we have a most unusual example of the company's turn of last century's pigeon or dove.  She is 10 cm and made from soft velvet like felt.  Her feet are made from metal that has been wrapped tightly with yellow string, giving them a most authentic appearance.  Her body has been elegantly and gracefully stenciled and airbrushed with black and grey highlights.  Her eyes are black button and backed in felt; her tiny beak is also made from felt.  She wears a red ribbon with a tag on it which are period but not original to her.  She most likely left the factory in Giengen on a little metal pull cart, but that has been lost to time.  This remarkable item was produced in this size only from 1916 through 1919.

Steiffgal hopes this review of her recent Steiff celebration has been nothing but a party for you... and thanks to all the wonderful guests (collectors and their and treasures) who helped to make it that way!

Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.