Rare Sweet Earliest Series Little Brother Steiff Reclining Lion Cub Jungloewe Wild Cat Gorgeous Coloring 2 IDs Magic Eyes!

This baby wildcat joins his striped cousin in my shop. Unlike tigers, whose coloring is the same throughout their lives, lion cubs show a distinct indication of their youth in the form of spots, which disappear as they reach adulthood. Jungloewe (“young lion” or “lion cub” in German, henceforth “LC”) may be a cub in appearance, but he is not by the calendar, if you consider his “birth date” to be the time he was manufactured. Although his flag is all but gone, I know that his article number was 2317,1—the first series of this cub produced—between 1954 and 1958.

I know his number because he once had a “roar,” although that is now silent. I know LC has a squeaker, because I could get him to make a tiny sound when I punched him on his underside at the place where I knew his squeaker, if it existed, would be.

The “17” in LC’s number denotes his catalogued size in centimeters. I never know how to measure the reclining animals to yield that result, so I will tell you LC’s dimensions. It is easier to measure his length along his flat underside. The line that can be “drawn” from the tip of his right front paw to the outside of the curve of his tail is just over 9 inches. Because his head is so sweetly titled toward his right side, it is hard to give you just one measurement for his height. The lower part of his head is about 4 1/2 inches above his lying surface, and the upper side of his head is about 5 inches high. For display, you’d probably want about 6 inches to accommodate his left ear.

To look at him, you would never think that LC was born more than 60 years ago. He has some minor issues, but I would say he is in very good condition, and I don’t mean “for his age!” I assess the condition of my Steiff animals on an absolute scale, where pristine antiques as well as poorly-preserved new animals are a possibility. If you want to bring LC’s age (and probable play) into it, you can say that he is in very good condition DESPITE his age.

LC’s most significant “issue” when he arrived was his lack of whiskers. I gave him 12 new ones out of nylon fishing line. They don’t look exactly like the originals, but I think they are a close-enough substitute, and they complete his “cat look” very nicely.

Because LC’s other issues are out of sight, they have essentially no impact on his wonderful presentation (as is, of course, also true of his current silence). LC has a few small moth nibbles on his underside, but I am only showing you a closeup of one area—near his tail—because there are several nibbles near each other in that same space. But you can see how they look in situ on the area I have circled, and LC’s few other nibbles are both isolated AND even smaller! I did not think any closeups of those was warranted.

The other issue on LC’s underside is the slight exposure of the string or thread that attaches his tail to his rear left leg. The string may have pulled away slightly from his leg, but the attachment is still tight. The length of that exposed thread is about a centimeter. If I want to be really nitpicky about his tail, it has a touch of stuffing separation about an inch forward toward the tip from the string, but this is only detectable by feel.

Also on LC’s underside is a smattering of EXTREMELY small tan “specks.” They are precisely the same color as the airbrushing that represents his front paw pads, and I believe they are errant drops of airbrush spray. I am mentioning them for completeness. They have no bearing at all on LC’s presentation, and they are probably factory caused in any case.

Everything else about LC is fantastic, as you should be able to see from my pictures. His coloring is fantastic and his mohair is full, including the longer white hair that lines his ears and comprises his sideburns. He even has a touch remaining of the rose-colored airbrushing on his inner ears, and a more generous touch of the same below the black floss line that depicts his mouth.

Finally, although this should be apparent to you too, LC’s posture is really nice. As is the case with reclining animals, generally, he leans a bit to his right side (left as you look at him), but his head is raised high, revealing his nicely spotted white chest. I am sure you have seen many examples of reclining animals with their heads pathetically resting on their paws.

I think I have covered everything you might want to know, but please write if you still have a question. This handsome and rare baby deserves a place in any serious Steiff collection, and while you are considering him, please take a look at his (many!) relatives elsewhere in my shop.

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT LC 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.