by Cindy Michalak 

Oh what fun it is to ride…can you believe it! I am writing the Holiday issue of Unique Zoitiques and it still feels like summer outside! Although it’s hard to get in the spirit of the holiday season right now, I decided to try real hard by showing some Christmas items. No offense is meant to anyone that does not celebrate this holiday, so let’s just call them Seasonal items instead!

Here are three different ceramic Borzoi ornaments. The Borzoi angel ornament is a solid and hearty material, measuring 2½" tall. The detail is quite nice, including correctly set ears, but it does look strange to see a Borzoi wrapped around an ornament like that. Ron Hevener Studios produced the ornament in the center. Many collectors may be a little more familiar with the bust Hevener Studios has done of a Borzoi head on a wood base. They are known for sculpting many different breeds and not only Borzoi. The head is 2-dimensional and not just a painting. The third dog is a cheaper and more fragile clay material and was made by an individual in California. My Basset Hound friend” gave this to me. The dog has a silly look to him, but that is the way most of the Borzoi are anyway – silly! This one had an accident several years ago when my girl Zorra was a puppy and bit the front leg off. If that were the only thing she had destroyed it would be grand!

While on the subject of Borzoi being angels (sure they are), this is a very nicely made ceramic icicle with a Borzoi angel on top. The Borzoi head is perfect, and the wings are lovely. The entire piece is decorated with a dusting of glitter. Because this measures 12" long, it was too difficult to get the entire icicle in the picture without making it hard to see the Borzoi, so let’s pretend you can see the tip of the icicle anyway.

These next two items were purchased at the 2004 Centennial Show in Ohio. While everyone else was eating dinner Wednesday evening, I was shopping at the vendor booths and found these beautifully decorated “Seasonal” pillows. The work that was involved in creating these had to be very time-consuming. I would assume someone traced a picture onto the pillows and then colored them in, although the Borzoi may have been added in by freehand.

The first pillow has a lady walking a white Borzoi towards the top of it, while there is another Borzoi lying in a snow bank at the bottom. The second pillow, decorated just as lovely with all the glitter and paint, shows Santa riding his reindeer with a sitting Borzoi watching him go by. They even took the time to finish off the pillows with a nice ruffle and added an “S” in glitter for a signature at the bottom edge. Let’s just say the price of these was so inexpensive that it would be insulting to whoever made them.

Oh come on now, you must have seen this Borzoi statue before! In fact, I even offered them as prizes for the Ugly Borzoi Contest at the Centennial. I remember when these first came out. There was a flurry of discussion on the Borzoi discussion lists about them. They were available at Icing’s or Claire’s Boutique in 2002. There were several different breeds to choose from with all of the dogs decorated to represent their own country. The price was very reasonable. I ended up buying a case of them, which is why I had so many to offer for prizes. They are still quite adorable, and I’m not even sure if they are still available. The overall piece measures 3" tall.

Here are two more ornaments. The one hanging from the NOEL sign is by Cecile. They make several different Borzoi items with the same goofy looking Borzoi, although they were intended to be a caricature. It is made of clay, and the head actually swivels, so you can pose him. The cloth ornament was made by a private party and measures 4" tall. The ears are attached separately giving it more depth. The tail is thick looking like a Borzoi tail, but I’ll bet they could just as easily narrow down the tail and call it a Greyhound as well. It is made of a thin felt-type material.

This last piece is one of my favorite “Seasonal” pieces. The Santa Borzoi is housed inside a plastic drum covered in plaid fabric. This is no ordinary Santa; this Santa is mechanical and moves his head, body and arms around, while playing Jingle Bells. The windup is on the side of the drum. I bought this several years ago at one of the Chicago Borzoi Specialties. I remember it well, as it was the last one they had. At the time I thought $35 was a high price, but considering this artist hasn’t made these in many years, I think it is well worth that price today. It measures 8" tall. This is the same artist that made the Borzoi in the airplane, which was in the spring issue of Borzoi Connection’s Unique Zoitiques. This artist has quite the imagination.

We have made it through another year. The older I get, the quicker time passes by. It is fun being back in the show ring again and meeting up with old friends. I hope to see more of you in the future! Until then, stay healthy and treat your dogs as good as they treat you. They deserve it! Happy Holidays!§