by Cindy Michalak 

Hi! Glad to see you all made it back this year. For the Winter issue, I have to write my article by the first of the year and since I usually wait until the last minute to get going, I decided to ring in the new year by visiting with an old friend. I dropped in (unexpectedly, I might add) on Joyce Brandin of Nightsong Borzoi. Some of you may remember her ads years ago in Dog World Magazine that read Nightsong on Borzoi is like Sterling on Silver.’ My favorite catch-phrase! Anyway, Joyce has been collecting Borzoi artifacts since the 1960s. In her collection, you will mostly find the rarer Borzoi pieces you may never have seen before. Some have never even been on eBay! Her house is one that I enjoy walking thru (to look at her Borzoi things) as much as I do my own. It was difficult to narrow the search down and only choose seven of her less common Unique Zoitiques (that I do not have) but we managed to do so. On that note, let’s get this party started!

Here is an older Royal Dux figurine. We are all familiar with the reclining statues that come in two sizes but were you aware they made this lovely double figurine? The porcelain on this piece is different than their newer pieces and has more of a pottery-type feel to it, like that of Shawnee (they made those Smiley Pig cookie jars). Measuring 8˝ tall x 12˝ long, Joyce found this at an antique mall. The owner of the mall is from Czechoslovakia and possibly brought this to the USA. The action shows expression in the pose. Being an uncommon item brings the value up and I would guess it to be valued at around $400.

Now for a piece that had baffled both Joyce and me. It definitely looks like terra-cotta pottery (like the orange colored planters you can buy). It wasn’t until after I took the picture that we noticed the flaking of paint with a different color underneath. After further inspection, Joyce determined the orange color had brush strokes on it like paint and decided that the material used is clay and it was only painted the terra-cotta color. It has a ‘ring’ to it when you tap it, which you would not hear if it was simply plaster. It is marked ‘Made in Belgium 1893, H. Housers,’ although we believe it to be made around the deco era (1940s) and the 1893 is merely a model number. A rather long yet narrow piece measuring 22˝x13˝. The ‘scene’ is sort of weird when you think about a girl laying naked looking into the eyes of her Borzoi. I often wonder what is going thru the minds of the artists at the time they capture these poses. Big, beautiful and rare, I value this around $350.

Although this next figurine has been on eBay a couple of times, it is still a very hard-to-fi nd Zoitique. In the Fall 2003 Borzoi Connection I showed my sitting and reclining Bing & Grondahl Borzoi statues. While those are not really common, they can be found a lot easier than this 7¼˝ tall colored standing dog. The detail is very nice on the Borzoi they produce but the main reason B&G pieces are so highly sought after is the porcelain they make. Without even touching the porcelain you get a feeling it would feel like satin or silk. It has a smooth and luxurious texture to it. This may have been a factory ‘second’ because on one side of the dog where they painted it, the paint has a fingerprint on it. Joyce said that people that worked at the factories would do this from time to time so that it would be considered unsellable to the public, making it available to the employees instead. Nice way to get your friend a present, huh! Rare and beautiful, it would sell for around $750.

This almost looks like it could be part of a porcelain chess set. The Borzoi could be the Knight! A friend of Joyce’s (now departed) brought this for her inspection to one of the local antique shows. He wanted a good price for it but upon looking, Joyce pointed out that the figurine was repaired. The man tried to tell her it wasn’t but it was hard to miss the discolored portion of the front leg on a perfectly white statue. Still, this man held his ground and Joyce paid a good price for it, although I would have purchased it as well, since it is a very rare German porcelain. The mark is a strange looking one, and when located in the Kovel’s Porcelain Marks Dictionary, it states it is ‘Oldest Volkstedt’ and was made around 1934. Most Borzoi pieces marked Volkstedt are that of Karl Ens. This very exquisite Borzoi measures 6½˝ tall. Find this for me and I’ll pay you $150 for it!

Just a few issues ago (Spring 2005) we featured the lovely Anri Italy reclining Borzoi. I mentioned there were a few other Borzoi Anri carved from wood. Here is one that is as rare as can be, showing both a Greyhound and a Borzoi out on a run. Remember that Anri pieces are always carved from one piece of wood, boggling the mind on how it could possibly be done. It makes me wonder how many pieces of wood got scrapped in the process! This figurine measures 6˝ tall on an 11˝ base. It is very lightweight. Joyce acquired this from a lady we both know that is a little ‘off’ in her thinking. This lady would pay thru the nose for an item and then if she found one little thing wrong with something, she wouldn’t want it any more. A few years ago at the International Dog Show in Chicago, that lady just traded for this piece but then saw a blemish on the nose of the Greyhound. She proceeded to take it and toss it in the garbage can at the dog show! Quick-thinking Joyce grabbed it right out of there and kept it for herself. I mean, wouldn’t you? What a cool way to get a very expensive and rare Borzoi artifact! Joyce touched up the nose of the Greyhound and you would never know anything was wrong with it. If you are ever lucky enough to find this Anri figure, expect to pay around $1000.

Do you love your Borzoi? Well, this young lady certainly does and her dog loves her right back! I can really relate to this scene because my Borzoi kids are always jumping up to get a closer look at my face. You may recognize this ceramic type figure as that of Katzenhutte from Germany. They have a distinct style to their fi gurines and when I saw it in Joyce’s cabinet, I immediately knew who made it. This gorgeous statue sits on an ornately designed brass base, adding even more beauty to it. It measures 11˝ tall and shows lots of grace and elegance. With so much color and design on it, be sure to check this picture out when it is available online at borzoiconnection.com. Being so rare and offering such a lovely overall ‘picture,’ even if I placed a value of $750, I don’t think that would do it justice.

You’ve got it! My favorite has been held until last. This has to be one of the rarest of all Borzoi pieces. Made by Meissen, the world’s most famous and highly sought-after porcelain maker, this figurine may not look like much to glance at but if you actually got to hold it and take a good look at it, you would see why it is a favorite of mine. The porcelain is a very heavy type, almost like it has some metal in it. The pose is kind of a common one and should not be confused with the Japan double reclining, although maybe this is the original that Japan copied. The coloration resembles the double standing ENS Borzoi figurine. It measures 8½˝x12˝ and is as heavy as the day is long. I remember when Joyce bought this. There were 3 of us (Joyce, me and that strange lady I mentioned before that threw away the Anri) that got together to buy Borzoi [and Greyhound] figures off of a website in Germany I had found. This was just when eBay started up and not many Borzoi items were listed. Together, we managed to ring up a tab of over $3,000. Can you imagine what the shipping cost us? Well, this Meissen double Borzoi was part of that purchase. As with the Anri, if you can find one of these, you can expect to pay upwards of $1,000 or more. Now, wasn’t that a fun visit with Joyce? I know I had a great time seeing her and Henry Brandin again. It always starts out as fun looking at what other people have in their collection that you don’t yet have but then it gets to you and makes you want to start that journey of finding Unique Zoitiques all over again. How about you? Don’t you have something in your collection that you are sure nobody else could possibly have? Drop me a line and we can incorporate your lucky find into one of our future columns. Until then, I wish you all the happiness in the world!§