A very rare Steiff pre-button felt Stork, 1892-1896, of white felt, individually cut white wing feathers and black felt tail feathers, slender neck, black glass bead eyes with red felt behind, orange felt beak and wire legs wrapped in orange thread —7in. (18cm.) high (some discolouration) - purchased from the Steiff Festival Giengen auction in 2018, as lot 130; a note in the catalogue ‘not described in this size in literature, but already offered in the first Steiff catalogue from 1892 and in the range until 1896 (before button production); expertise from Steiff GmbH, Giengen, in which the authenticity of the the object is confirmed after research and information from the archive’