Magnificent KPM Berlin portrait vase of Empress Augusta of Prussia So called. Renaissance vase with handle. On an octagonal, stepped base with a raised round foot, ovoid body with rounded shoulder, offset, retracted neck with moulded nodus and flaring rim. Gilt bisque porcelain handles in relief on both sides with a winged panther's head, rising in curves from palmette attachments. Royal blue ground. The front with a wide, gold-etched pictorial reserve, crowned by the laurel-wreathed imperial crown. Including a bust portrait of Empress Augusta of Prussia after a photograph based on a photo-reprographic technique in grey camaieu. Designed by Julius Wilhelm Mantel, 1860, minimally dam.; sceptre and painter's mark. H. 53.5 cm. Such magnificent vases with the portrait framed by laurel branches and crowned by the imperial crown were reserved for the Prussian court and were made on behalf of Wilhelm I of Prussia as personal gifts to personalities "loyal to the emperor". Princess Agusta of Saxe-Weimar (1811-1890) was Queen of Prussia and the first German empress to marry Wilhelm I. Ponert, cat. Berlin Museum, no. 130; see Dietz, Sabet Collection, pp. 180f. A large splendid porcelain vase with the Imperial portrait of Empress Augusta of Prussia. Minor chipped. Sceptre and painter's mark. KPM-Berlin. Circa 1880 - 1888.