A monumental porcelain punch bowl made for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago has returned to this city. On July 11, 2025, the Art Institute of Chicago reopened the Eloise W. Martin Galleries, where 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century European designs are displayed. Among the new works added to the collection is a Rococo punch bowl created by the Royal Porcelain Manufactory (Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur, K.P.M.) in 1892.

This item was one of the many wonders exhibited around the “porcelain porch” of the German section of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. James B. Campbell described the scene as:

“an exhibit of porcelain dishes that would captivate the heart of the connoisseur. Here was to be seen every imaginable kind of dish, from the tiny salt-cellar to the magnificent vase. There were many different sizes and styles of vases, some of them with figures and scenes almost life-like in their reproduction.”

Designed by Alexander Kips and modeled by Ernst Wägner, the sculptural work features three figures bearing roses and grapevines encircling the base and three cherubs and a pineapple decorating the finial. The porcelain masterpiece appears to be the same item that sold at Christie’s for $35,000 in 2019.

A photograph of the German porcelain exhibit in the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building at the 1893 World’s Fair. The porcelain punch bowl, now in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, can be seen in the center of the display table. [Image from Campbell, James B. Campbell’s Illustrated History of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Volume II. (M. Juul & Co., 1894).]

A photograph of the interior of German Court, showing the “Porcelain Porch” and exhibits from the Royal Porcelain Manufactory at the 1893 World’s Fair. [Image from Inland Architect and News Record Dec. 1893.]

SOURCE

Campbell, James B. Campbell’s Illustrated History of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Volume II. M. Juul & Co., 1894.