Soft toy elephant named ‘Pumpie’ dressed as a sailor in a smart, dark blue, woollen jacket decorated with many brass buttons and matching trousers. Toy made of felt stuffed with straw, wool, England, ca. 1900 [1876 x 2500]

“The toy is handmade from grey felt and is stuffed with a combination of very fine wood shavings and pieces of cork. The head and hind-feet are very worn and faded to a light grey, although the original blue-grey colour is preserved beneath the clothing. There are general signs of old insect damage. The proper right side of the head and the trunk have been extensively darned with wool, there is cotton darning on the proper left. The proper right ear is a triangle of grey felt, the proper left ear is almost completely lost. It has yellow and black plastic eyes – the proper right being much damaged. Pumpie is set in a seated position, the fore-part of the front legs are replacements made from fine grey leather, the remains of decorative stitching suggests that the leather was probably sourced from a glove. The trunk is made from rolled-up felt. Lines of heavy stitching along Pumpie’s back show that the toy was stuffed from the rear. Concealed beneath the clothing is a long tail.

Pumpie is dressed as a ship’s officer in a dark blue woollen jacket, decorated with many brass buttons, and matching trousers. The shirtsleeves are separate from the rest of the shirt and are stitched inside the jacket’s sleeves. The matching waistcoat is rear-fastening along its white cotton back, it is decorated with small lingerie buttons. The white cotton shirt also fastens from the rear, and has an attached black necktie made with a satin ribbon. Beneath the shirt is a rear-fastening cream woollen vest. The trousers are cut so they remain in a seated position, they fasten on two small ceramic buttons.

Pumpie has other outfits, including a kilt and a green velvet jacket.

Pumpie was hand made by the children of the Cattley family who lived in Ealing, West London in the early 20th century. Soft toy elephants were very popular at this time and Pumpie was probably copied from existing examples made by companies such as Steiff. The Cattley children made all Pumpie’s clothes themselves. Together with their other soft toys and teddy bears, Pumpie was treated like a member of the family.” From The [V&A Collection](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1122516/pumpie-soft-toy-cattley-family/)

Pumpie is a fabulous creature

He’s perfect 💖