Metzler & Ortloff Walter Bosse Bottle Stopper

This is a very rare porcelain figural bottle stopper made by Metzler & Ortloff in the late 1920's. Metzler & Ortloff was founded originally around 1873 and finally closed its doors in 1976. This figure was designed during their best period by the famous Walter Bosse who worked for them from 1926 until 1930. He made about 200 different figures though most are dogs or such things and there is a series of bottle stopper but they seems to be very very rare. I only found a picture of it in black and white from a book on his wares. The stopper is in the form of a figurine of an elephant modeled in his typical fun way and painted with two different shades of purple. The figure is standing on a flat base which has a screw type design to the udnerside to hold the cork in place. The cork is also glued on and damaged but that would be an easy fix since the porcelain is in perfect condition. The piece is quite typical of Walter Bosse's work which makes him so collectable. I love these small pieces of his! And there is a reasons his work is still so popular today! It just makes you smile. The piece is marked underneath with Germany as shown. Not sure if there is more but this would be model number 5493 if I am correct from the book. The porcelain part of the stopper is about 2.25 inches tall and 1.125 inches in diameter with the cork part here being about 0.75 inches long. Normally the cork would be longer but it works fine as is and could easily be replaced with a new one. Please email me for more information or photos.