Sweet Steiff Rare Largest Sister Brown Tabby Striped Tapsy Cat Kitten ID

I am so excited! I believe this may be the first time I have had an entire Steiff family together in my shop looking for new homes. This sweet girl is the largest of the four Tapsy sisters. She has only her button, but her article number is certain: 1318,00. Not only that, but I am certain that this Tapsy is from the earlier of two series who had that number and was made sometime between 1959 and 1963. Two things tell me that: Tapsy has glass eyes, and her raised script button is the earlier kind, with skinny letters. Tapsy was made for only one additional year in the later series, in 1966. I don’t know why that is, but it means that the total number of years this largest sister was available was just four, and the same thing goes for her next-smaller, 15-cm, sister (you can read her description separately).

Even if you did not have all the sisters together to compare, you would know that this Tapsy was the largest, since she is the only one with embroidery floss separating her toes. Her floss is complete; she has three lines on each toe, which you can see most clearly in my picture of her underside.

Although the “18” in Tapsy’s article number denotes her catalogue size, Tapsy is smaller. She measures approximately 15 cm. or 6 inches, high to the top of her head, the nominal size of her next smaller sister. 🙂 As I said, even if if you saw this girl alone, you would still know she is the largest Tapsy because of her toes. Tapsy will need another inch-plus of overhead clearance to stand comfortably on display because of her tail. By the way, I will tell you now, since I am on the topic of her tail, Tapsy’s tail is perky, not like the broken or bent tails you might see on other animals who are supposed to have upright tails and don’t.

Truth be told, there is a bit of play between Tapsy’s tail and her back, but that is only obvious from touch; visually her tail looks great. This is precisely the kind of thing I will NOT try to fix, because the benefit of filling in that settled stuffing at the base of Tapsy’s tail is essentially non-existent, while the risk of causing more damage by opening up her tail and poking her with a needle is not insubstantial. At her YOUNGEST, Tapsy would be 60 years old and her body is likely somewhat fragile.

OK, since I have started telling you about Tapsy’s condition, I will continue. I think this is the most serious thing I have to tell you, and that is that Tapsy has a small irregular area of moth interest on the back base of her right ear. I am pointing to it with an arrow on the right side of my second image composite. I had taken a picture of it to show you as an enlargement next to that ear, but it just looked ridiculous.

If I am going to nitpick (don’t I always? ;-)), I will tell you that her brown striping pattern may be a bit faded—or at least that the contrast between her stripes and her underlying tan color is probably less intense than it was at one time. However, I noticed that when I compared her to her same size sister living in my vitrine, who I would say is in near mint condition. I don’t think that looking at Tapsy by herself screams “fading” at you.

I gave Tapsy a replacement ribbon which I believe is French from the 1940s. It is a combination of silk and rayon, and it is gorgeous. It goes really well with the stitching of Tapsy’s nose and paws. That, too, would be a condition issue if you want to be a purist, but I think Tapsy’s current ribbon is every bit as nice as the one her vitrine sister is wearing.

Something I haven’t replaced is Tapsy’s bell. I have a few older bells, but they are not the same shape as Steiff bells for cats, and I think that giving her a replacement bell from among my choices would detract from her overall appearance.

OK, I am down to the condition detail that is almost always the lowest in my hierarchy of “issues.” I am referring to the fact that Tapsy no longer “meows” when you press her belly. However, since her muteness is not something that affects her wonderful display, I give it essentially no weight. I say this because I am assuming that Tapsy will be going to the home of an adult collector, and that collector, or anyone else admiring Tapsy’s sweet face looking back at them from her vitrine, would not know (or care!) whether Tapsy made a sound or not.

I finished with my list of inconsequential detractions, but I want to end with something positive, and that is the fact that Tapsy has all her whiskers—the 6 on each side of her nose and the 4 in front of each ear. Her whiskers are a bit unruly, but if anything, that adds to her charm.

I can’t think of anything else to tell you, but please write if you have a question. Tapsy is a rare, sought-after kitty, and you will be delighted if she joins your collection. It would be wonderful if the family stayed together, so please consider her sisters as well!

WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO ABOUT TAPSY 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 JANUARY, 2023.