Wooden cane with a carved grip of a Jewish man with painted eyes
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 29.875 inches (75.883 cm) | Width: 1.125 inches (2.858 cm) | Depth: 1.750 inches (4.445 cm)
Creator(s)
- 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 walking stick 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
Walking stick made from a single stick with a head carved in the shape of a young Jewish man in a cap. European artisans commonly adorned everyday items such as ceramics, toys, and even walking sticks, with caricatures of Jewish faces. These walking sticks are examples of racial antisemitism becoming part of everyday life.This walking stick 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
Lightweight, turned, varnished, mottled brown wooden walking stick with a small knob handle carved in the shape of a young man’s head. It has a short brimmed, rounded cap, short, wavy hair, and hooded, white painted eyes and black pupils. The facial features are distorted and stereotypically Jewish: thick eyebrows, a large hooked nose with a bulbous tip, and thick, protruding lips, slightly parted, with the corners pulled back in a smirk. It has a cylindrical neck with a high pointed shirt collar, angled as though leaning forward. The neck extends into a long, slender, smooth, cane shaft with a worn rounded heel.
back of neck, red marker : 57
Subjects
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
- Jews in art--19th century.
- Jews--Folk art.
- Antisemitism in art.
Genre
- Personal Equipment and Supplies
- Object