CIRCA 1891, BLUE SCEPTRE MARK, DESIGNED BY DIRECTOR ALEXANDER KIPS, THE FIGURES MODELED BY ERNST WAGENER, THE SCROLLWORK AND VINE LEAVES BY ALBERT, HINKE AND SEIFERT

Compare the example in the Kunstahuas am Museum, Carola van Ham in Cologne, Germany, illustrated by E. Köllmann and M. Jarchow, Berliner Porzellan, Band II, Berlin, 1966, Tafel 241, p. 327, and here noted as being created as a gift for Kaiser Wilhelm II.

The decorative taste of the late 19th century is epitomized by the massive scale and detailed decoration of this centerpiece. The characteristic rocaille scrolls, dripping grapevine, playful putti and bacchic figures exemplify the Neo-Rococo style and accentuate the grandeur of the bowl. A polychrome-enameled example of this impressive centerpiece bowl was exhibited at the 1893 Chicago Exposition alongside other works by the KPM factory and the Glory of Germanica tile painting by Alexander Kips. See Hubert Howe Bancroft, The Book of the Fair, Chicago, 1893, p. 186.