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tabby cat

Glove Puppet
1950s (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Glove puppet, representing a tabby cat, made of silk plush, parts of which have been printed. The puppet has a rounded head with plain body and two arms. The front of the body is plain beige plush, with the back printed with black stripes. The claws on the left arm onlyare stitched with three pink threads.

The head is rounded with a rounded nose and made with several panels of cloth to form the shape and colour. The back of the head is printed with black stripes and the nose and mouth are indicated by pink thread stitches. There are two whiskers on each side of nose. The eyes are dark brown set into white lozenge shaped glass buttons. The arms were at one time stuffed with kapok.. The pointed ears, individually sewn on, have grey felt inner ears. The head is tightly stuffed with wood pulp (sawdust) with a finger hole of cardboard in the centre; this is slightly crushed..

*Silk plush was often used to describe the type of fabric used for this toy. It has a different texture and weave to the normal mohair plush and may be of fine mohair or more likely mercerized cotton.
*The eye type used is not normal for the cat line; it is a brown painted glass eye with white corners, used primarily between 1930 and the early 1960s on dogs and rubber figures. This suggests that the toy is early 1950s when available parts were in short supply.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Titletabby cat (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Printed silk plush
Brief description
Glove puppet, 'Tabby Cat', printed silk plush, Germany, 1950s
Physical description
Glove puppet, representing a tabby cat, made of silk plush, parts of which have been printed. The puppet has a rounded head with plain body and two arms. The front of the body is plain beige plush, with the back printed with black stripes. The claws on the left arm onlyare stitched with three pink threads.

The head is rounded with a rounded nose and made with several panels of cloth to form the shape and colour. The back of the head is printed with black stripes and the nose and mouth are indicated by pink thread stitches. There are two whiskers on each side of nose. The eyes are dark brown set into white lozenge shaped glass buttons. The arms were at one time stuffed with kapok.. The pointed ears, individually sewn on, have grey felt inner ears. The head is tightly stuffed with wood pulp (sawdust) with a finger hole of cardboard in the centre; this is slightly crushed..

*Silk plush was often used to describe the type of fabric used for this toy. It has a different texture and weave to the normal mohair plush and may be of fine mohair or more likely mercerized cotton.
*The eye type used is not normal for the cat line; it is a brown painted glass eye with white corners, used primarily between 1930 and the early 1960s on dogs and rubber figures. This suggests that the toy is early 1950s when available parts were in short supply.
Dimensions
  • Height: 21.6cm
  • Of head height: 6.3cm
Marks and inscriptions
attached to left ear - small metal (tin) round button with Steiff This small button was used from 1950 to 1969/70 and continued to be used on the miniature items until the mid 1970s.
Object history
References: Steiff, by R & C Pistorius; Button in the Ear, by J & M Cieslik

see also B. 227,229 and 230-1996
Collection
Accession number
B.228-1996

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Record createdApril 18, 2000
Record URL
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