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My love of
collecting Steiff toys began as a child, with numerous teddy bears,
but my real love, that of collecting Steiff Pekys, began one
Christmas. My husband, aware that I had been trying to find one for
many years, managed to spot one by looking on auction pages on the
Internet. He decided to bid on it and won… Christmas morning, I
couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only did he surprise me by the one I
had been searching for, he managed to bid for a rare vintage Steiff Peky Hand Puppet! This has to be my favourite and is the
pride of my now ever-increasing Steiff collection. Made of mohair,
he measures about 10” high and 9” wide, and has glass eyes.
The
following is a brief history of the famous Steiff “Peky”
Margaret Steiff
and her nephew Richard decided they wanted to make a toy that would
appeal to both boys and girls and so they started their company,
named after Margaret, in 1880 in a small town in Southern Germany
named Giengen. It took them a long time, some 23 years, before
their first teddy was released. Richard made drawings of the bears
in Stuttgart Zoo and researched his subjects well, resulting in the
production of a bear that looked realistic and had moving limbs.
Steiff didn’t
just produce bears, they made a whole selection of different
animals. Whilst these animals are attractive and as well made as
the bears, they never caught the imagination of the world in the
same way as the famous Steiff teddy bears, although cats and dogs
have always been collector’s favourites. Steiff are the world’s
third most collectable item, after stamps and coins. The highest
price fetched for an antique Steiff teddy bear is $250,000!
Between 1953 and
the 1970s Steiff produced as assortment of dogs. One design they
decided to create was based on a Pekingese dog and they called it
Peky. Peky was produced in various different sizes throughout these
years and because Steiffs are all hand-made they are all found to be
individual.
Development
of Steiff Peky
As soon as the
basic specifications of the dog and size has been clarified, the
designers then went to work, allowing their imagination and
creativity full rein, to produce two-dimensional drawings of the dog
from all aides. Like fashion designers, they decided how the dog
would be manufactured, where the seams would be and what materials
would be used (eg. Mohair, long or short pile, cotton, etc).
The designers
would study pictures and films, to ensure that the dog would turn
out to be as realistic and natural as possible. A pattern would
then be made on the basis of the drawings.
A three
dimensional model of the dog would then subsequently be manufactured
in the production department, the designers supervising every stage
in the production process from sewing and stuffing, right through to
decorative stitching and painting. The dog prototypes would be
examined very thoroughly by an in-house committee. Any corrections
that may be necessary would be made until the dog prototype would be
finally approved. The complete process – from the initial idea
through to readiness for series production – would usually take
about a year.
A Steff Peky
comprises of 35 plush and felt pieces on average. A Peky pattern
would be used to produce screen-printing stencils and the individual
parts would then be cut out by hand, whereby just the backing fabric
would be cut to ensure that the pile was not damaged. Traditional
methods are used at Steiff to dye certain mohair products by hand
using a template in order to optimise the plush structure and the
markings on the fur.
The cut-out
pieces would then be sewn together on the wrong side. The pile from
both pieces would be pushed through to the right side before the
seam would be sewn with very fine stitches. The sewn body or shell
would then be turned to the right was round. Great care was taken
to ensure that every seam was shaped into the right form.
Steiff Peky was
always filled with wood shavings and stuffed by hand. A stuffing
tool was used to push several strands of wood shavings into the
shell, one after the other, making sure that every corner was filled
properly. Joints were fitted to the Steiff dog and these were then
permanently attached to the body. The joints were fitted before the
main body of the dog was stuffed and then the seam was sewn by hand.
The nose, nails
and mouth of the dog were also stitched by hand and the whiskers
were sewn into the mouth by hand to prevent these hairs from being
pulled out by children. Safety glass eyes were used and were
secured in the shell like rivets before it was turned the right side
out.
Peky was then
given a ‘special’ make-up treatment. This involved a special
airbrush technique in which the markings were applied by hand and
thus give each Steiff Peky its own individual appearance. Having
passed a final inspection, Peky would be given and ear tag and the
“Button in Ear”. This would be permanently fitted to the animal’s
left ear.
Every Steiff
would then be given a chest tag, a washing instructions booklet and
an information booklet, as well as any decorations, such as
ribbons. Pendants, made of card were also tied round the neck of
all Steiff Pekys. In 1968 they produced a new Pekingese design
called a Cosy Peky, but the best investments in Steiff are the
earlier models from the 1950s and 1960s.
The term “Button
In Ear” was registered as a trademark on 20th December,
1904 and patented on 13th May, 1905. The “Button In Ear”
was then supplemented by a fabric tag with the product number
printed on it in 1908/09.
No matter what
Steiff animal you buy, you should expect to pay an absolute premium
price for those with ALL identification (All ID means a button in
the left ear with a “flag” carrying a number attached behind the
button, and a chest tag which will have the actual name of the
animal). All ID is very hard to find in the older toys. There is
nothing wrong with buying an animal in nice condition without ID –
an animal manufactured by Steiff is unmistakable – and will most
certainly increase in value!!! Experience though is the best
teacher!
The colour and
style of writing on the button will give you an indication of the
year made. So the button is very important, but the chest tag is
much harder to come by, as this was usually the first thing that got
ripped off by a child! (Therefore sometimes the chest tag is more
sought after!)
The flag colour
can help too – newer limited editions usually have a white tag –
additionally if you are reading a book that lists current value by
numbers (0202/10 for example) it makes it much easier to look up an
animal if the flag is readable. The numbers on the flat also denote
size. |
