Nostalgia? - The cat rattle

Some years ago when I still did the "Finds of the week" posts, I had some called "I'm a collector" in which I shared vintage items. Over time my collections have mostly stopped growing due to different reasons, but they are still there and still loved. I also have vintage items, some inherited, some gifts, some from fleamarkets, some more interesting than others. So I thought it could be fun to share some of them every, now and then and tell their story.

Why the question mark in the title this time, though? Well, I never gave the piece that I want to show you today much thought after the ex got it. For once, I don't even remember if it was at a fleamarket or a show and how much he paid, but I am quite sure we brought it home from the USA, together with the cat measure tape in this picture.

The fun in a collection is not just to add to it, but also to look through it and rediscover things. Today this cat rattle, which keeps my vintage Steiff cats company, caught my eye, and being stuck at a WIP thanks to the heat and doing anything to get away from it, I took a closer look at the kitty instead.

The ribbon was obviously new, but what about the cat?
No markings anywhere, so not real silver - which would have surprised me, anyway - but silver plated.
It may have to do with the heat and the resulting weird sleep patterns, but at first I thought the silver looked very worn down (which was of course wrong).
The bail at the top holding the plastic teething ring was bent as you can see.
Did all of this mean, however, that the cat was vintage? I mean, it definitely is now because my last trip to the USA was 23 years ago, but had it already been back when it was bought?

What was that at the bottom? Amiscia. I had never heard of that. Could it be a company name?
No, but it was listed as a girl's name on several baby name sites, from the Latin "amicitia" meaning "friendship". The sites agreed on the name being English, but not on its pronunciation.
Okay. We have a cat rattle and a baby girl's name, but except for the name not being very common in our times as it seems, that doesn't say anything about the age.

Google Images. Victorian silver cat rattle. No good matches. Victorian silver plate cat rattle. No. Wait a moment, that picture is exactly my cat in perfect condition. The bow, the little bell, no doubt about it. Just the teething ring looked a bit different. Hm, in a box. So it's new after all? A small business on Etsy ... in Germany?? They sold it more than once, was it old stock? They also had other rattles, but they looked not as elaborate as the cat.
Google again. The other rattles were still widely available, teddies, rabbits, ducks, and more, from Amazon over eBay to several German jewelry stores (fun fact, the descriptions say that the rattles can't be engraved) ... but not the cat. A discontinued pattern?

I went to take some pictures and that's when it came to me. Of course the silver wasn't worn down, it had blackened. What kind of jewelry maker was I, shame on me. I got out my polishing paste and cloth and tested it in two small spots. Bright silver. For it to get quite this black, however, would take a while, wouldn't it? 23 years or more maybe?
On the other hand I was sure that it had not been bright silver when we brought it home because the vintage look had been what made the ex want to add it to the old Steiff cats.
Know what? All of this has definitely become nostalgia now ;-)

I won't polish the cat lady (no idea why I think it's a lady) and I don't know if I will ever ask one of the stores selling the other rattles if they know more.
She looks perfect the way she is now. And who doesn't like a bit of mystery?
Amiscia, wherever you are, I promise I will keep loving your cat.