Steiff Handsome Black Cat Hand Puppet ID

As I have said about Tom’s two full-bodied cousins in my shop, I don’t see anything particularly MALE about this puppet, but, as it does with those humpback cats often referred to as “Halloween cats,” Steiff categorizes this hand puppet as a “Kater,” the German word for “tomcat.” If you have a black female cat who looks exactly like this puppet, and you would like to have a mohair facsimile of her, please don’t be deterred by Steiff’s categorization.

Although Tom (or Thomasina) has some really nice characteristics, like his full, black, and LUSTROUS mohair, there are two things about him that made me seriously consider whether to help him find a new home. As you know, if you have read my article on Steiff fraud, the last thing I would want to do is to put a Steiff animal into circulation who had questionable provenance. Actually, “provenance” is probably not quite the appropriate term, since there is absolutely no question that this is a Steiff puppet.

Since you are reading this description, you know that I decided Tom’s issues are not a reason to deny him a new home. Despite my willingness to find Tom a new guardian, I may have already scared away some potential collectors, so let me explain what I mean.

One of Tom’s issues is the almost certain substitute vertical stitching comprising his nose. The central floss segment that pokes up into his nose and the upside down “v” of his mouth are original, but the rest of his nose is not made from the same floss; rather the vertical stitches are obviously thinner thread and not quite the same color as the floss. I was not aware of this when I purchased Tom as part of a group of Steiff animals from a dealer in Germany. I saw pictures, but each individual animal in the group was far smaller than the pictures you see here.

Tom’s nose, while not perfect, is not the issue that concerned me most. I think the vendor from whom I bought him may not have known that his nose was repaired, and this is not the kind of thing that I tend to be concerned about.

Tom’s chest tag required more serious contemplation. Usually, chest tags of puppets are not attached with floss, but the string attaching the tags is typically one strand, but sometimes two (I believe on older animals). Now there are, indeed, puppets that have chest tag attachments that look very much like Tom’s, for example, Smardy fox, Mungo monkey, and the unnamed rabbit puppet now “sale pending” but still viewable in my shop. What is important about this last puppet is that, just like Tom, he is wearing the generic chest tag, while the others have their proper names on their chest tags. There may be many other instances like Tom and the rabbit, which I simply have not seen or don’t remember.

Because the threads attaching Tom’s tag look legitimate in all respects, using the puppets I just mentioned for comparison, I can’t say, definitively, that this puppet NEVER had such an attachment. Therefore, I decided he passed the potential fraud test, and he deserved to find a new home. I am sharing all this with you, because I want you to make an informed decision.

As to the chest tag’s condition, it shows the typical creases that one finds on puppets, since the tag is in the direct path of the puppeteer’s fingers. You can still see the creases if you look closely, but I have reinforced the tag with cardboard, giving it a crisp feel.

As I said, Tom’s condition is really nice. He does have some wear around his nose, but because the underlying fabric is as black as his mohair, you don’t see it. Another nice feature is Tom’s complete set of whiskers. He has six on each side of his nose and four in front of each ear.

Speaking of Tom’s ears, they are lined in velveteen, with only the SLIGHTEST bit of fading at the edge of his left ear. You can see that Tom had a raised script button by the tiny puncture holes of the prongs of that button.

Tom’s beautiful green eyes are glass, but interestingly, his finger tube is plastic. That combination makes it hard to determine Tom’s manufacturing date with specificity. His eyes suggest that he is early, but a plastic tube is generally found on later puppets. Maybe that unusual combination is in keeping with his unusual chest tag attachment. 🙂 In any case, while I would cross off the earliest version of this puppet as a real possibility, he could be from either the second or third series, whose production spanned the years 1959 to 1967. His article number was the same for both series—0317,00.

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but please write if you have a question. Whether it is your intention just to acquire a wonderful and rare Steiff puppet to be enjoyed all year round, or to have him as a special component of your Halloween decorations, you cannot go wrong with this sweet guy (or girl)!

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT TOM 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.