Little Brother Rare Steiff Reclining Arco German Shepherd Dog ID

I am delighted that Arco has sought me out to help him find a new home. He is the smallest size of the three who were made in this reclining pose. It has been quite some time since this ever-popular Steiff Schaeferhund (“shepherd dog”) has been in my shop, and although I helped a few relocate before coming to Ruby Lane in 2010, this little guy is a first for me here.

I did have a few Arcos over the past 12 years, both standing and reclining, but never this size. Arco’s size designation is 22 centimeters, and the number “22” indicated that in his article number. I can be a bit more specific than that because of Arco’s glass eyes and old-style raised script button with skinny letters, but those features could have belonged to an Arco with two different article numbers. The earlier one, made in 1957 and 1958, would have had the number 2322,1 on his flag, and the other possibility is an Arco made between 1959 and 1964, whose article number was 2322,00.

I never know quite how to measure the reclining animals, so I will give you Arco’s dimensions. Arco measures about 9 inches from his left front paw to the place where his tail joins his body—which, as a matter of fact, is almost exactly 22 cm! It doesn’t always work out that way with other reclining animals I’ve measured, but you should know his other dimensions anyway. Arco measures about 5 1/4 inches to the top of his head (more on his posture below) ;-), and, of course you also want to give him some room above those alert erect ears, which make Arco’s total height just under 6 inches. Finally, although there is an inconsequential touch of play in his tail, when he lies with it close to his body, Arco’s length is a foot.

Even at his youngest, which would be nearly 60 years old, Arco is in good-plus condition, and I mean DESPITE his age, not the meaningless “for his age.” When Arco arrived, I would have called his condition “good,” but I have added the “plus” myself. 😉

A common problem with the reclining Arcos is their tendency to slump down toward their front legs. Actually, that is an issue with many reclining animals. Because Arco is stuffed with kapok, a soft and squishable natural fiber, his posture often worsens over time. As a matter of fact, this Arco was better than many I had seen when he first arrived, and it was tempting to do nothing to improve him. I knew I could make him look even more handsome, so I proceeded to put on my “Dr. Rosalie” hat.

I made a small opening in his underside, through which I could add kapok stuffing to both his thighs and his chest. I even managed to use that opening to push some kapok down into his legs, but although I was somewhat successful, the separation of the stuffing down the length of his legs is still detectable by feel. Because the real contribution to his good posture comes from supplementing his thighs and chest, I am absolutely satisfied with my restoration.

I am showing you a closeup of my stitches next to my picture of Arco’s complete underside. If I hadn’t told you that I had opened him up and closed him again, I am almost certain you would have no idea that I did so. Steiff animals are always closed by hand, so it is not as if I added anything new.

Speaking of stuffing settlement, I want to return to Arco’s tail. I told you about the tiny amount of play, and that is a good example of a repair I will not undertake. It is always risky to do “surgery” on an old Steiff animal. Repeatedly poking their old covering with a needle could have disastrous results, and my decision to take on such a risk is influenced by how much of a difference my restoration work would make in the appearance of the animal. Opening up Arco’s tail to make its juncture with his body a bit tighter would really contribute nothing to his presentation, so I did nothing to change it. Making his posture better had obvious benefits, so I did.

The rest of Arco’s issues are not things I could change, nor are they egregious. My rating is the result of there being more than one. Arco’s black areas are a touch faded, but he is still black enough that I decided to show him on a blue background. His brown areas are still quite nice, and there is a nice interplay of black and brown, particularly on his face.

Arco’s lolling felt tongue and the inside of his happy open mouth are a bit faded too. His tongue was originally an orangish hue, and not BLOOD red, so the fading is not so bad. And although the rose-colored airbrushed accents on his upper and lower palate were once stronger, I think he retains a respectable amount.

Arco’s mohair coverage is very nice, with one major exception. You can see significant thinning in the seam going along the back of his tail. There are three major areas of thinning along that seam, with the most noticeable one being the one closest to his behind. It is very likely that you will display Arco with the back of his tail out of view, so this seam wear should have a negligible effect, if any, on his display appeal.

Just to be complete, I will note that there is also thinning along the front seam of Arco’s tail, but because the mohair is brown on that side of his tail, and closer to the color of the underlying fabric, the wear along that seam has minimal impact on his display appeal.

There is a second area of mohair loss on Arco’s snout, which I am showing you as an enlarged inset in my second image. Actually, there are three little areas of missing mohair in that enlargement, which might be from (not very hungry ;-)) moths. The largest and uppermost of those areas is about 3 millimeters across, and I am connecting the actual area on Arco’s snout with an arrow to my enlargement.

Finally, I am delighted to tell you that although Arco arrived with out his original red leather collar, I have given him a new one! It’s a little thicker than the original (it’s for an actual small dog or cat), but he looks wonderful in it.

In my typical way, I have given you a thorough description, but if you have any questions, please write. This rare doggie belongs in any serious Steiff collection, whether that is yours or belongs to someone close to you, and whoever that new owner is, he or she will be delighted with him!

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT ARCO 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 JANUARY, 2023.