Button-In-Ear Beauties: Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion’s November 2024 Steiff Archive Auction

Rare Steiff brand button-in-ear Teddy bears, dolls, novelties, and other animals continue to capture the imagination and wallets of collectors worldwide. To strategically reconfigure and consolidate storage space within the company’s physical spaces, the Steiff company of Giengen, Germany has started to deaccession some redundant items from their overflowing archives. The toymaker has partnered with auctioneer Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion of Ladenburg, Germany to rehome these fine archival items over a series of sales events. The first Steiff archive auction, which includes over 500 lots, will be held on November 23, 2024. Here are a few of the extraordinary highlights.

This sale includes several breathtaking early prewar felt dolls, including several examples that seldom if ever are seen outside of museums or premier collections. Lot #161, a fully-jointed male doll dressed as a pilot or race car driver, has an opening bid of EUR 560. He was made in 1925 and is 20 cm tall. He wears a leather jacket and hat, cotton pants, and felt shoes. His face is detailed with proportional brown and black glass pupil eyes, painted eyes and lips, and a distinctive center seam. He is branded with a Steiff button and a white ear tag. He also has his original round cardboard Steiff archive tag attached to his backside.

This doll is extraordinary for several reasons. His petite size is unusual, with most Steiff dolls of his era measuring at least 28 cm tall. His pattern does appear in the Steiff literature as a pilot for a wooden steering plane, which appeared in the line from 1925 to 1928, and as the driver for a wooden steering car, which appeared in the line from 1925 to 1929. However, in both cases, the vehicle operators are noted at 28 cm tall, and this specific example measures 20 cm tall. He is also dressed in a well-configured leather top which is integral to his body. As far as this author knows, this is the only time Steiff has used leather to create an integral, full garment on a doll from any era.

Archival quality bears are also a key category in this Steiff archive auction. Lot #134, a Snap Dicky bear, has an opening bid of EUR 5,500. This item was made in 1936 and is only one of five examples extant. Dicky is 31 cm tall and made from golden blonde mohair. His paw pads are made from velvet and are stenciled with fingers and toes. His face is detailed with brown and black glass pupil eyes, an inset muzzle, a brown hand-embroidered nose, and a prominent open mouth. His IDs include his period-appropriate Steiff button, red ear tag, and original archive tag attached to his rear. What makes this bear design so spectacular is his jointing. He is fully jointed, has a tail-moves-head mechanism, and features a series of snap joints in his hands, feet, mouth, and torso that allow him to make and hold various comical positions.

This novelty bear is based on the company’s standard line prewar Dicky bear pattern, which only featured standard five-way jointing. Margarete Steiff’s nephew Hugo Steiff designed this bear at a time when new product development focused on two areas: inexpensive production and very high-end production. Low-end production included items like the company’s woolen pom-pom miniature line. Snap Dicky was part of the very high-end line, intended for consumers who still had significant financial resources at this very challenging socio-political period in history. Snap Dicky never went into full production, probably because his design was very laborious and intensive to produce; mohair and metal elements were rationed for military purposes; and the overall concept did not make sense from a supply and demand perspective.

Household pets– including cats and dogs– have always been an important part of the Steiff line over the company’s 140+ year history, and this sale offers a full kennel’s worth of rarity temptations. Lot #61, a waterproof cat toy designed as a bath toy, has an opening bid of EUR 180. It is from 1939 and measures 12 cm tall and 15 cm wide. The cat is standing and unjointed and is made out of oilcloth and stuffed with kapok. It is painted with brindle stripes, has green and black glass slit pupil-style eyes, and is decorated with a red collar. This rare hand sample retains its original Steiff archive tag.

This cat novelty appeared in the Steiff catalog from 1939 to 1941 and was produced in 10 and 12 cm. Other bath items produced at the same time include a duck and a Fox Terrier. This bathtime kitty is based on the company’s late 1930s Tabby design. Steiff’s production was grinding to a halt due to wartime shortages and related issues as this novelty debuted. Its concept filled several business purposes. It was made from inexpensive oilcloth, which unlike mohair or felt was available at the time. It was easy to manufacture and required minimal labor or experience to assemble. It was in the form of a cat, so its success was almost guaranteed. It was innovative from the new product introduction perspective, being part of the debut (and perhaps only) series of buoyant, oilcloth bathtime toys for babies.

Prototypes that never went into production or were otherwise undocumented in Steiff reference materials are certain to catch the eye and interest of collectors worldwide. Lot #151, an unusual Steiff caricatured bear cub from 1953, has an opening bid of EUR 900. He is standing, 54 cm tall, made from caramel-colored mohair, and has unjointed limbs. His quirky face is detailed with oversized brown and black eyes backed in white fabric, a dimensional black nose, an open mouth, and wooden teeth. His IDs include a raised script-style Steiff button and a yellow ear tag with handwritten digits. Only three of these bears are known to exist.

According to Ladenburger’s experts, this bear is called the “Ford Bear.” It is very possible that he was designed as a “customer special.” These are items that Steiff designed and produced as special orders for companies, organizations, or special events. This otherwise mystery pattern has several features that are similar to other beloved and popular Steiff patterns introduced in the 1950s. They include elaborate eyes dramatically backed in white, as seen on the company’s Bambi fawn (produced from 1951 to 1972 in 14 and 22 cm); white wooden teeth and an open mouth, as seen on Steiff’s Bengal tigers (produced 14, 22, and 43 cm from 1959 to 1961); and a distinctly youthful presentation and toddler-esque proportions, as seen on the company’s sitting Jumbo elephants (produced in 22 and 35 cm from 1952 to 1975).

This important sale rounds out with amazing birds, rabbits, farm and wild animals, items on wheels, and other novelties. Lot #156, a festive hat in the form of a parrot head, has an opening bid of EUR 180. This fantastic and rarely-seen accessory was manufactured in 1911 and is made from red, white, blue, yellow, black, and grey felt. It measures 40 cm wide and 23 cm high and is detailed with black shoe button eyes. It retains its button, white tag, and its original Steiff archive tag.

For more information on the November 23, 2024 Steiff Archive Auction by Ladenburger Spielzeugauktion, visit the company’s website.

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