New to me: Spaghetti poodles

I’m not much of a dog person – I have no pets – but I do have friends and family members who’ve had those cute white poodles. They are lovely little animals and they seem so cuddly. 

So, at auction recently, just as I was about to brush past some miniature poodle figurines in a glass case, I stopped for a moment to admire them. They were porcelain, with textured hair that looked like tiny curls, and they had such dainty expressions on their faces. They were in soft pinks and baby blues and snow whites. One had a Lefton manufacturer label on it.

Mama poodles were gold-chained to their baby pups. They sat on trays in the midst of other sets of donkeys, deer, cats, skunks, ducks and rabbits.

I assumed this was someone’s collection. They stood out in the case because they were so clean and in such good condition. This collector had prized them and taken very good care of them.

I learned that these were called “spaghetti poodles,” and they were new to me. I assume they were named such because of the look and texture of the spaghetti-like appearance of the hair on their bodies. According to the site Crazy for My Collectibles, they were popular during the 1950s and 1960s, and most were made in Japan. Several collectors wrote in their blogs about seeing them in their mothers’ or grandmothers’ china cabinets and playing with them as children.

They apparently are highly collectible. I couldn’t find a collectors’ group, but I did find a book called “Spaghetti Art Ware,” all about collecting poodles and other ceramics.

The figurines were made of porcelain, ceramic or clay. You could buy them as salt and pepper shakers, coin banks, planters, lamps, pin cushions, ashtrays and brooches. I found lipstick holders, a cigarette holder with two ashtrays, and lamps on the web. Pink and white apparently were popular colors.

 
At auction, all the figurines were sold by the set, with the auctioneer restarting the bidding several times. On the first bid, one person took two sets for $17 each. Second bid: Two sets for $11 each. Third bid: Nine sets for $6 each (these mostly included the other animals). The rest sold for less.

I found spaghetti poodles selling on one website for $50 to $75 a set. On eBay, they sold for 99 cents to $64 – the bulk for $20 to $40 each.

The poodles look to be a chore to keep free from dust, with all those little nicks and crevices. Here’s one blogger’s step-by-step primer on how she cleaned up a black one she found at a thrift shop.

If you you’d like to start collecting, here’s some advice from another collector. Meanwhile, enjoy this collection and this photographic ode to spaghetti poodles.