Rare Steiff Seated Lovely Lea Lady Lioness Wild Cat Fabulous Coloring ID

As you probably know, and as is evidenced by the four Leos in my shop, Steiff Leo lions were made in many designs—sitting, standing, and reclining—and many sizes. This sweet lady is the only “Lea” lioness Steiff offered (except a rare puppet, who doubled as a cub, offered for very few years). There are wild female cats of several designs, but all of them have the generic title “Loewin,” German for “lioness.” Only little (with the noted and briefly-produced puppet exception) Lea got to wear a chest tag with her name. That is why I am so delighted that this NAMED instance of this rare lady has taken up temporary residence in my shop.

Lea was not made for many years; her total production period was 1956 to 1969, divided into four series. Although Lea has only her chest tag, I can narrow her production to either of the first two series. Lea’s article number was either 3311, made from 1956 to 1958, or 3311,00, made from 1959 to 1964. There was a later series of Lea made with the latter article number, but I am almost certain she is early because of her glass eyes.

The “11” in Lea’s two possible article numbers denoted her height in centimeters, measured to the top of her head. Remember, this is the ONLY size in which Lea was made. She’s close to what the catalogue suggests, measuring 10.8 cm. tall, about 4 3/8 inches.

Lea has generally full mohair coverage, with touches of wear, most of which are along her seams, and beautiful coloring (including retention of her original white!), and she has her complete set of whiskers—6 on each side of her lustrous coral floss nose (which even retains its little black airbrushed nostrils).

Now comes the discussion of Lea’s tail, which is actually fairly positive. IF Lea’s tail suffered stuffing separation, it would not be ordinary damage, but rather a “birth defect” from the factory, which is actually worse than that because it is a design defect! The design of animals seated on their haunches like Lea (and many others!) puts the placement of their tails into competition with their haunches, and the tails are the usual losers.

There was an “IF” in the previous paragraph, because, as a matter of fact, Lea’s tail does not have stuffing separation at its juncture with her back. She suffers from the design defect to a lesser extent, in that her tail is not “broken,” but rather it exits her body to her right, and is slightly raised off the ground.

Typically, the tails of animals like Lea start too far up their backs, meaning there will be trouble part way down. In any case, although Lea’s tail points to her right, it is otherwise in good condition. To be complete, her tail has a teeny tiny “dent” about 3/4 of an inch beyond its juncture with her back.

I think that covers everything, but please write if you have any questions. Every serious Steiff collection should have a Lea, and you have several choices for her male counterpart, including the little Leo in the same seated position.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT LEA 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.