Cane with a bone grip carved as a caricatured Jewish man's head with warts
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 35.250 inches (89.535 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 5.250 inches (13.335 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 cane 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 with a black wooden shaft and a changeable bone handle carved as the exaggerated, caricatured head of an unattractive Jewish man with one gold tooth and an extremely elongated nose with big warts. 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 cane 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
Wooden cane shaft with a changeable L-shaped, polished bone handle carved as the caricatured head of Jewish man. On the top of the head, or the knob, is a black painted, smooth, rounded, semi-circular kippah, set at an angle. The head has large, elongated ears, and dark brown, long, spiraled sidelocks, hair, and thick, grooved eyebrows. The large hooded eyes have dark pupils with bags underneath. The lower forehead extends outward to form an exaggeratedly long, cylindrical nose, which acts as the grip. The nose tip is rounded, but nearly flat on the end, where it is worn and dark from contact. Each side has a long, shallow nostril, with 2 large, oval, beaded, dark brown wart bumps on the right. Creases are carved from the nostrils down the cheeks. The underside of the nose curves inward and down to the grinning open mouth filled with individually carved teeth, one in gold, with a thick bottom lip. The chinless figure has a high necked shirt collar and bow-tie. The neck is attached to a short, smooth, polished, black stained cylindrical stem with a center threaded screw. This is inserted into the long cylindrical shaft which has a silver colored metal band near the center; the cane may be jointed beneath. There is a 1.5 inch bone ferrule, cone shaped with a rounded tip, at the bottom. The handle is 7.500 inches; the shaft is 27.750 in.
back of collar, red marker : 58B
Subjects
- Jews in art--19th century.
- Jews--Folk art.
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
- Antisemitism in art--Germany.
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons.
Genre
- Personal Equipment and Supplies
- Object