Vintage Artist signed Chow horse brass by John E. Ellis

This beautiful horse brass, circa 1970 depicting a Chow Chow I found in England and it is such a beautifully detailed treasure. Measuring 4 1/4″ x 4 3/8″ it was created by the famous horse brass maker from England John E. Ellis and signed on the back with his stamp JEE . These ornate medallions, usually made of brass, were used as decoration on draft/harness horses as you can see in the photo above. Sometimes the brass depicted the horse’s route or business. Many times used simply as a beautiful decoration like this Chow.

The brass medallions many times commemorate events or awards and are hung from the horse by leather straps called “martingales”. Some of these straps held numerous brasses as you see on the horse’s chests above. Others would hold a single important brass medallion as you see on the foreheads. I’m currently looking for a “single” vintage leather martingale to hold this Chow Chow treasure and then I will put it all in a shadowbox frame.

The draft horse has become more of a rarity in modern times and with it, the horse brass is also becoming quite collectible and hard to find. These original JEE brasses are becoming rare as well and very sought after due to their large size and high quality.

Such a beautiful piece of history and a fun collectible. There are other Chow horse brasses out there that I would love to own someday. With that said, I guess I may need a bigger martingale, wouldn’t It?

HAPPY NEW YEAR MY FRIENDS!!!

CLICK BELOW for more information on Horse Brass history

https://www.horsenation.com/2016/01/19/show-some-brass-a-closer-look-at-horse-brass/

1930’S THE STEIFF CHOW TOY STORY- Veedol and the Graf Zeppelin-NEW rare additions

A 1930s chow photo sets me off on an incredible journey to track down his origin. The path leads to a little chow puppy named Vee Dol ,the Graf Zeppelin, and the famous Steiff toy factory of Germany

~Sandra Miller

Every once in a while one of the photos in my collection stops me in my tracks

and I can’t get my mind off of it until I find out more about the subjects. This

beauty is no exception ! Immediately of course I recognize this mohair chow toy as circa

1920’s-30’s mainly because the shoes on the subjects date the image. My years in antique

doll costuming helped with that!!!

ABOVE: from the Steiff USA website. In 1904 Franz Steiff, Margarete’s nephew was looking for a way to protect Steiff products from imitation. His great idea later became the epitome of quality and handiwork: a metal button in the ear as a protection label. Initially engraved with an elephant motive, the metal button soon wore the trademark and therefore became inseparable with the brand.

So off on a search I go, to find out if it is from the famous German toy company

called Steiff. The signature gold button and tag in the ear is what you look for

first on all Steiff toys, but many that were being played with had lost their tags

over time. ! What came next in my research just dragged me in deeper. Whoever said

history is boring didn’t relate it to chows and dolls!

“He has been showered with affection from all sides ever since he was adoped as the Zeppelin mascot on the West East flight of the LZ127. His virtue was certainly the reason he was chosen and envied by all the world”

From the Steiff catalog description of “Brownie”/Veedol

ABOVE: Rare Chocolate Steiff Chow “Brownie” with his original bow- 91/2″ x 3″ Sold at Morphy Auctions

Circa 1930s from Shirley Temples collection – Theriaualts Auctions

Above is an old Steiff catalog (1928-1932) featuring the Chow “Brownie, standing and on wheels

ABOVE is the rare wheeled pull toy version of “Brownie” in a Steiff catalog circa 1928-1932

CLICK TO VIEW MY VIRTUAL STEIFF CHOW COLLECTION

UPDATE 2017: 4 years after writing this original article (2013) I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to purchase this treasure below.

Veedol looks to be maybe 5-8 months old at this point and still being advertised as the Graf Zeppelin mascot. What a life this young chow had as well as such a legacy to the Steiff company menagerie!

FROM THE MERCHANT I PURCHASED ABOVE PHOTO

“This is an original real glossy photo (not a printed lithograph photo) taken from Zeppelin–Weltfahrten which was a rare album sold in Germany in the early 1930’s. Germans would collect the individual real photos and mount them in their albums with history. The album this photo came in was falling apart with a tattered cover and loose pages.”

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UPDATE 2022: 9 years after writing this original article I had the amazing luck to happen into an auction offering what I believe to be 3 original press photos of Vee Dol as he embarked upon his dirigible maiden voyage.

ChowTales curator Sandra Miller

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 1928-Veedol-original-photos-collage-900x900.jpg

The photos above are all originals in a large 6×9 format. Each image had writing in pencil on the backs detailing who was in the photos. The only one where I couldn’t track down the men’s names was the group of 4. I am pretty certain they are the mechanics who donated the puppy to the crew.

ABOVE: This photo matches up with the original images I purchased

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A LOFTY NAME FOR A 4 WEEK OLD CHOW

This news clipping to the left is the main piece of information I found which leads me to believe that the original images mentioned above could be authentic press photos, taken by a professional photographer on the occasion of the Graf Zeppelin’s return flight to Germany.

The text in the news article matches up almost exactly to the pencil-written notations on the back of the images.

When I received the images it was the first time I had been made aware that the kennel the puppy was from called Long Acre Kennels at Toms River NJ. Even the birthday of the puppy was cited. September 18, 1928

Also, another revelation was the spelling of the puppy’s “call” name which states VEE DOL (exactly as on the photos). Two articles refer to the puppy as “Vee”. All other articles spelled it as one word VEEDOL like the oil company the pup was named after.

And finally, the registered name. A lofty and grand name for a high-flying 4-week old chow

Vee Dol von Graf Zeppelin

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Bon Voyage Veedol – A true ambassador to the Chow breed

SO BON VOYAGE VEE DOL… I AM HONORED & PLEASED TO HAVE MET YOU THROUGH MY CHOWTALES RESEARCH!

Chow for Now-Sandra

We may never know for sure if that stuffed chow in the first photo was truly a Steiff,

but two things you can be certain of. That chow stuffy was dearly loved by his little girl, AND

you can be sure the passengers on the Graf Zeppelin were thoroughly

entertained by the chow puppy antics of Vee Dol. Talk about socializing!!.!

Vee Dol was a true ambassador for our breed and a trailblazer for the earliest popularity of Chows in America. This is a piece of breed history that will forever be held safe and sacred in the ChowTales Archives

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Vintage bronze paperweight featuring a ‘chow’ and little boy. Miniature and detailed

A couple of years ago I managed to score this incredible find. I am still researching the timeframe it might have been made in and the purpose of this unusual piece but I am inclined to think the original intent is to be a paper weight. It measures about 8″ from end to end and the little chow/dog figure is less than 1″ in height. The detail for something so small is just amazing from the dogs quizzical expression, all the way down to the little boy’s crossed feet

The photo above shows the back side of the sculpture. The little dog’s tail arches over his back and he has a blunt muzzle and lovely prick ears. I cannot help but see him as a chow even if that was not the original intent of the artist. My friend Dennis Tang managed to find another one of these sculptures online (see last photo) and was able to give me some information. Thank you so very much Dennis!!!

The photo above is the piece viewed from above where you can start to see how tiny those sculptures really are

Above I put my hand behind the dog and boy to show the scale

This is the signature stamp on the top of the piece