Beautiful Middle Sister Steiff Rare Brown & White Standing Cockie Cocker Spaniel Puppy Dog ID THREE YEARS ONLY

Cockie’s standing baby sister and several of their cousins are already in my shop, and they are delighted to see her. All the brown and white Cockies are rare; I have not had the opportunity to help one find a new home since 2007!

This Cockie is the middle size of three sisters, all of whom were made only during the brief three-year span 1957 to 1959. Because Cockie has only her chest tag, in fairly nice condition, I cannot date her more specifically. If Cockie was made in 1957 or 1958, her article number was 1318,0, and if she was made in the final year, her number was 1318,00. Given the shortness of her production and the equal “book” value of the two series, it really doesn’t matter that much. The “18” in both numbers indicates Cockie’s height in centimeters. She conforms with the catalogue exactly, which means that she is just over 7 inches tall.

Cockie is in excellent condition, with strong brown accents on an almost-original white background. Because Cockie is so rare, I don’t have many others to compare her to; the Cockie of this size who lives in my vitrine is the same color (maybe even a little darker). Another characteristic this Cockie shares with her vitrine sister is the slightly darker color of her face and the top of her head as compared to her body. Because the baby’s white background is uniform, I think it may be a coincidence that the two middle sisters have darker heads. On the other hand, maybe they were made that way. In any case, because most of Cockie’s white is close to what I consider it must have looked like originally, I do not hold it very strongly against her. Perhaps I should say she is “excellent-minus.” I hate to get hung up with all these labels; what matters is how appealing Cockie is to you. You should take note, by the way, of two other features of Cockie’s mohair. In addition to her nicely contrasting colors, her mohair has a nice luster, and her coverage is full.

Cockie’s original red leather collar is at least in very good condition. If you look closely, you can see some minor wear, but there are no big cracks, and none of the red exterior of the leather has worn away. And while I am on that topic, I will mention her chest tag again, with a bit more detail. A few millimeters of the red periphery of the tag are somewhat worn and folded over. This reveals the several layers of the tag, which are a bit separated and folded over too. As I said, this whole folded-over part of the tag is just a few millimeters, and I don’t think it that minor issue does much (or anything) to detract from Cockie’s appeal.

An even less serious issue with Cockie’s chest tag is the fact that there seems to be a teeny tiny bit of wear near the lower left of the grommet. If you look at the grommet from the back, you can see that it is fully attached, and it is doing its job well of protecting the tag from damage as it rubs against the link that attaches the tag to Cockie’s collar.

By the way, notice that Cockie’s name is printed on an angle. That is the kind of minor factory flaw that animals were often allowed to retain when they left the factory. In fact, I have seen far worse imperfections than a crooked name allowed to leave the factory. I just point this out because I find it amusing.

Now I am down to the end of my discussion, the place that I usually save for mentioning the fact that an animal’s squeaker is silent. And I always point out that a non-working squeaker does nothing to affect the display appeal of the animal. Now I must tell you that Cockie’s squeaker works! But I have to be consistent in telling you that that POSITIVE attribute also does not affect her display appeal. I just thought it would be nice to mention it. 🙂

I can’t think of anything else you’d want to know, but please write if you have a question. Cockie would be an enhancement to any serious Steiff collection, and her little sister would love it if they could stay together.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT COCKIE OR ANY OF MY OTHER STEIFF ITEMS, PLEASE BE SURE TO SEE THE ARTICLE I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT STEIFF ID FRAUD—INCLUDING COUNTERFEIT CHEST TAGS—(AND OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR COLLECTORS). YOU WILL FIND THE LINK ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF MY SHOP HOME PAGE UNDER “FAVORITE LINKS.” IF YOU HAVE NOT LOOKED AT IT RECENTLY, I UPDATED AND EXPANDED IT IN MARCH, 2023.