Royal Doulton Dickens Ware teapot decorated with an image of Fagin
Extent and Medium
a: Height: 3.750 inches (9.525 cm) | Width: 1.575 inches (4 cm) | Depth: 6.750 inches (17.145 cm)
b: Height: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Diameter: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm)
Creator(s)
- Peter Ehrenthal (Compiler)
- Charles Noke (Designer)
- Royal Doulton (Manufacturer)
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 teapot 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
Dickens Ware series teapot featuring an image of Fagin, made by Royal Doulton in England during the 20th century. Royal Doulton is an English ceramic manufacturer that specializes in artistically styled and decorated ceramics and tableware. In 1889, Charles Noke joined the company. He later introduced Doulton Series Ware, plates and other items with decorations based on characters from popular culture. In 1908, Royal Doulton introduced the Dickens Ware series, based on Charles Dickens’ characters. The series was originally produced until 1937, and a second run of the series was produced mid-century. On the teapot, Fagin is portrayed with a beard and a large nose; both stereotypical physical features attributed to Jewish men. In “Oliver Twist,” Fagin is the villainous leader of a gang of children whom he has instructed in the ways of criminality. He attempts to corrupt the protagonist, Oliver, in the same manner. In the novel, Fagin is described in his first scene as hunched over a fire holding a toasting fork. This imagery reinforces the antisemitic stereotype of Jewish associations with the devil due to the toasting fork’s resemblance of a pitchfork. He is repeatedly referred to as “the Jew” in the book and also emphasized as a greedy, miserly, and cowardly character; all traits aligning with common antisemitic stereotypes. However, in a later editionof the novel, Dickens reduced his use of “the Jew,” substituting it for pronouns or other phrases. However, even in this later version, Fagin is still repeatedly and negatively referred to as “the Jew,” and remains emblematic of multiple antisemitic canards. Later writings by Dickens portrayed Jews in a more positive light, however, the reprehensible Fagin is his most remembered Jewish character. This teapot 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
a: Cylindrical teapot with a matching light green lid (b). The teapot depicts an interior scene of a man with a large nose and long gray beard, walking in front of a clothesline and sleeping mats. The surface of the handle, spout, and top are colored light green while the edges are colored with a dark green stripe. The teapot has a slender, angled handle and a tubular spout, directly opposite the handle, that protrudes from the lower half of the front. The top of the teapot is partially enclosed, with a circular opening in the middle that reveals the white interior. The inner surface is perforated with small holes where the spout intersects with the body. The bottom portion of the teapot’s sides are tan in color and the base flares out slightly wider than the body. The man in the image wears a long, brown, sleeveless robe over a gray, long-sleeved shirt and pinstriped, gray pants. A tan-colored rag or handkerchief hangs from his waist pocket. His head is turned, looking back over his shoulder with a sidelong glance. The area below his feet is colored brown, while the ground around him is an off-white tone that fades into the tan color at the base. In the background, there is a brick wall with a wood-planked floor in front. Along the wall, a pair of pants and two shirts are hanging from the clothesline. The brick wall and planked floor in the background behind him encompass every side of the teapot. Continuing around the teapot, where the handle is attached, there is a clotheshorse laden with clothes in front of a fireplace. Next is a single wooden chair, located next to a table that has a bottle and several mugs sitting on it. Clothes are hanging on wall pegs, and a window above the table continues behind the spout. The bottom of the pot bears a circular maker’s mark with a portrait image of a bearded man and a pattern number handwritten in black ink. The top of the teapot, behind the spout, has a small chip at the edge of the central opening. A repaired crack extends from the chip, along the top and down the side at an angle before angling back up and over the top again. There is minor crazing on the surface. b: Teapot lid with a finial and a painted design for matching teapot (a). The white flange (lower section) of the lid is cylindrical and unpainted. The top of the lid is flared out over the top of the lower section, and has a slightly convex surface with a finial that tapers to a rounded point in the center. The top portion is light green in color, with a design of small, connected triangles, each with a small interior circle, extending inward from the edge. Near the finial is a small, round air hole. Overall, there is minor crazing on the surface. An elongated piece, now missing, has broken off along the edge revealing the white ceramic beneath.
Subjects
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
- England.
- Antisemitism in art--England.
- Ceramic teapots--England.
- Fagin (Fictitious character)
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Jews in art.
Genre
- Object
- Household Utensils
- Pottery.