Lydia is married Terracotta figurine of a Jewish marriage negotiation
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 6.250 inches (15.875 cm) | Width: 7.750 inches (19.685 cm) | Depth: 1.875 inches (4.763 cm)
Creator(s)
- Anton Sohn (Artisan)
- Peter Ehrenthal (Compiler)
Biographical History
The Katz Ehrenthal Collection is a collection of more than 900 objects depicting Jews and antisemitic and anti-Jewish propaganda from the medieval to the modern era, in Europe, Russia, and the United States. The collection was amassed by Peter Ehrenthal, a Romanian Holocaust survivor, to document the pervasive history of anti-Jewish hatred in Western art, politics and popular culture. It includes crude folk art as well as pieces created by Europe's finest craftsmen, prints and periodical illustrations, posters, paintings, decorative art, and toys and everyday household items decorated with depictions of stereotypical Jewish figures.
Archival History
The figure group was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by the Katz Family.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Katz Family
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Colorful terracotta figure group, Lydia is Married, modelled by Anton Sohn in early 19th century Germany. It depicts four figures, a Jewish man, presenting his daughter to a prospective groom, while bargaining with the matchmaker. Sohn (1769-1841), trained as a church painter, had a workshop in Zizenhausen, Germany, that was celebrated for its exceptionally detailed and elaborate terracotta figurines. His subject matter ranged widely and included genre and satirical groups on popular, topical themes, and religious figurines which were favorites for Christmas displays in homes, as well as businesses. This figure group is one of the more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic artifacts and visual materials.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Molded, polychrome, halfback, terracotta figure group of 3 men and a woman. On the left, an older man in a black tricorn hat and long green overcoat stands next to a bosomy young woman in a red dress. She is smiling at the young man on her right, who grins in return. His hand is tucked into the front of his buttoned brown tailcoat. On the far right stands a prosperous looking man in a purple tailcoat and striped trousers, with a pouch in his extended right hand. A pink nosegay hangs from his waist. The man on the far left is facing right to talk to the gentleman on the far right. The faces have stereotypical Jewish features: large ears, large, pointed noses, heavy brow over hooded eyes, and fleshy lips. It has an open, flat sliced, halfback with a hollow concave interior, unpainted with furrowed lines. They stand on a hollow, light green, elongated oval base with a captioned paper label.
front, base, paper label, black ink: Nache meine Tochter mein hauptkapital, mein alles! Das taiht a Mann, a tasentvo(ss?)er Mann, a (gefchichuer?) Mann, a raicher Mann, a th(eurer?) Freund! Frivi(ss?) haben deine kunftreiche hand deine (s?)chaine Srimm, deinen wi(k?)igen Augen S(?)opf, deine angenchiner Manieren, deinevortreff(s?)iche Perlon, er wi(?) dich heirathen, wirft defoaen Mein? [My daughter, mein main capital, mein everything, here is a man who likes your eyes, your piano playing, your manners, your person, he would marry you, would you say no?]
People
- Sohn, Anton, 1769-1841.
Subjects
- Marriage brokerage--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Jewish families--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Jews--Folk art.
- Jews in art--Germany--19th century.
- Antisemitism in art--Germany--History--19th century.
- Jews--Germany--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
Genre
- Object
- Decorative Arts