Middle Sister Rare Steiff Jolanthe Pig All ID

This big buxom (glass) blue-eyed girl is the next-to-largest Jolanthe pig. Since she has all ID, I can date her fairly precisely. There were two series of Jolanthe made with this article number, 1317,08 (absolutely legible except for the last number, which has partially frayed away), but I know Jolanthe is a member of the earlier series, made only in 1960 and 1961. I know that because of her glass eyes and her early-version raised script button with skinny letters.

The production span of the different sizes of Jolanthe end in different years—the latest was 1977. But this size was not made after 1972. She’d be a rarity to find in any case, but with all ID, Jolanthe is really rare. In fact, although I have helped a few other 17-cm Jolanthes find new homes in more than two decades, I have never before had one with all ID.

The “17” in her ID number denotes Jolanthe’s size in centimeters. I am not sure which dimension that is supposed to be, since no obvious way of measuring Jolanthe will result in that number. If you measure Jolanthe from snout to rear end (including her tail), you get about 9 inches. If you measure to the top of her rear end from the surface she stands on, you get about 5 1/2 inches, and if you measure to the top of her head, the result is about 5 inches. You can better get a feel for her size in my last image. I have tiny hands, so holding her in a way that allows you to see parts of my fingers for some perspective was a challenge.

I would say that Jolanthe is in good-plus condition. Her mohair coverage is fine, but she has a fading issue. Therefore, I believe the most appropriate way for me to rate her is somewhat conservatively. Others might not be so inclined, but I would rather her new owner be surprised than disappointed. There are two aspects to Jolanthe’s fading: her once-pink underlying body color, as you can see in the right half of my sixth composite image, and the fading of her airbrushed accents. Even her underside is somewhat less “rosy” than I believe it once was, but her sides are more significantly faded than that, and the fading is somewhat irregular, with some areas pinker than others. The fading on top of Jolanthe’s back is probably the worst; its fading leaves it fairly uniformly beige.

Jolanthe’s added airbrushed brown and rose accents are not totally gone, but they were once much darker. You can still see the accents on her face and snout, including those at the sides of and surrounding her open mouth, but they are subdued. The airbrushing on her legs and hooves is closer to what it was originally, and because her mouth is only barely open, Jolanthe retains a wonderful dollop of rose coloring on her felt palate, which could not have looked much different when she left Giengen 60-something years ago. The “ripe cantaloupe” color of the felt has also been well preserved. The felt covering of Jolanthe’s tail is not quite its original color, but it is closer to “ripe” than the color of her snout.

To be complete in my nitpicking, I will also point out that the green hue of Jolanthe’s rope ribbon is also somewhat faded, although the ribbon itself is very well preserved and tacked to Jolanthe’s neck.

Almost always the lowest on my condition hierarchy is an animal with a non-functional squeaker, and this is the case for Jolanthe; she no longer “oinks.” The reason I typically find an animal’s muteness to be a very minor consideration is that their silence (or sound!) is not something evident when they are on display in an adult collector’s vitrine.

I can’t think of anything else to tell you about this sweet chubby girl. Of course, please write if you have a question. You will be absolutely delighted if this wonderful pig comes to live with you, as would the Steiff collector in your life if you can bear to give Jolanthe away as a gift.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT JOLANTHE 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 DECEMBER, 2022.