Rare Gorgeous Tiniest And Earliest Steiff Seated Brown And White Cockie Cocker Spaniel Puppy Dog All ID Near Mint

This gorgeous cocker spaniel pup is the smallest of seven sisters, all of whom are rare, since none was made after the 1950s. Cockie is not THE rarest, since some of her sisters were made for fewer years, but she has the distinction of having been made during the first or second year of her series, 3310, the whole production span of which was 1951 to 1958. I know Cockie was born in 1951 or 1952 because two of her three pieces of ID place her in that time frame: her angular bear head chest tag, with her name printed in red/brown letters, and her early flag, which, unfortunately I could only show part of to you.

You can see the “10″ on Cockie’s flag, and you can see the “sch.” above those numbers. Those letters are the right part of the abbreviation “gesch.,” which stands for “geschützt,” which means “protected” and serves a similar function to the ® we associate with trademarks and the © we associate with copyright. Not only is that word (sometimes appearing in full and sometimes abbreviated, like here) not seen on the flags of later post-war Steiff animals, but the font of the flag is different from flags worn by later-produced animals, even those made the very next year, 1953. The name “Steiff” is not written in large cursive script as it is on later flags; rather it is written in small printed letters. This is the same format that was used on animals dating long before WWII. I am showing you an inset example of a complete flag from that era in my fifth image.

The reason I cannot lift up Cockie’s ear to show you, if not the whole flag, at least a bigger part of it, is the main reason I am saying she is only “near mint.” If you look at the inset picture of the button side of Cockie’s flag in my next to last image, you can see what causes the problem. Her button is unusually big for an animal her size. I don’t think that is reason for concern (and you KNOW my concern with questionable IDs ;-)). It is unusual, but certainly not unheard of to see such a large button on the ear of such a tiny animal. But I am sure that that is where the problem started. I am guessing that the button was placed on the far corner of the flag so as not to cover the writing, but things apparently got worse from there, and the flag was almost entirely separated from the button when Cockie arrived, and even now, there is a small space between the edge of the button and what was the right side of the flag.

Notice that the button has some corrosion; I think the corrosion may have contributed to the flag’s partial breakdown, but I think the placement of the button so near the corner of the flag is the real culprit. In any case, because the flag threatened to tear away totally from the button, I had to step in to prevent that. I attached the flag directly to Cockie’s ear, since the button was not doing anything to secure that side. If you look really closely, you can see my tiny stitches, but the fact that my repair is underneath means that it does nothing to interfere with Cockie’s gorgeous display!

Ordinarily, I would give you a rundown of every minuscule thing I could think of to mention—and yes there are a few other things that contribute to my reluctance to take away the word “near” from “near mint.” But Cockie also has many wonderful features I am resisting the temptation to mention. I am relying on my numerous big and clear pictures to fill you in on all the things I am not putting into words (aren’t you glad?).

Of course, it you have a question, by all means, ask. I believe this little girl is the best representative of her type that I have ever seen, and I know you will not see one even close any time soon—or ever! If you are a fan of Steiff dogs, in general, or cocker spaniels, in particular, you must add her to your collection.

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.