Polar Bear Fountain
by KROG, Arnold, Porcelain, granite
The fountain in the centre of the Peace Palace depicts four polar bears fishing for salmon and surrounded by seals.
The fountain was the Danish gift to the Peace Palace in The Hague. This design included porcelain statues of polar bears and sea lions designed by Carl Bonnesen and a border of red granite. In 1914, the fountain was completed in the Copenhagen Porcelain Factory and displayed at a Baltic exhibition in Malm�, Sweden.
However, as a result of the start of World War I the fountain could not be delivered to the Peace Palace. For economic and organisational reasons, it would take until 1920 before the fountain could be transported by ship to The Netherlands. The shipment consisted of 68 crates of porcelain elements and 37 crates of granite elements. The fountain was finally put together in 1923.