German Gesteckpfeife style tobacco pipe and porcelain bowl with an antisemitic image
Extent and Medium
a: Height: 4.875 inches (12.383 cm) | Width: 1.250 inches (3.175 cm) | Depth: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm)
b: Height: 10.500 inches (26.67 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 3.500 inches (8.89 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 pipe 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
German Gesteckpfeife (arranged pipe) style tobacco pipe with its accompanying bowl. This style of pipe is also known as a Jaeger Pipe, German hunter pipe, German Porcelain pipe, Tyrolean pipe, and Wine Pipe. The tobacco was packed in the porcelain bowl which was then placed in the reservoir (or abguss) of the pipe. The reservoir acted as a retainer for the juices and tar, and sometimes wine was placed in the reservoir to flavor the smoke. This style of pipe was popular in Central Europe from the 18th to the early 20th centuries and was most commonly associated with Germanic culture. The bowls that accompanied these types of pipes were often decorated with elaborate images or coats of arms. The italicized text (an idiomatic phrase loosely translated as “Moses stop! The horse is exhausted”) and image on the bowl reference the stereotype that there is a problematic relationship between Jews and horses. This stereotype sought to feminize Jewish men and minimize their social status by separating them from masculine and socially respectable nineteenth century activities, such as foxhunting on horseback and military service in the cavalry. This stereotype also perpetuated the myth that Jews refused to engage in rural occupations such as farming by disassociating them with horses, a common farm animal. This tobacco pipe 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: Removable, white porcelain tobacco pipe bowl made to fit into a Gesteckpfeife style tobacco pipe (2016.184.115b) with a painted image of two men on horseback. On the front is an image of two men riding a brown horse with a short, black mane and long, black tail. The front rider wears a red collarless jacket, yellow knee length breeches, and white knee high socks. The rear man wears a green collarless jacket, pink breeches, and white knee high socks; both have tricorn hats. They are riding on a trimmed grass field with a small, green bush behind the horse’s rear legs. Above them is a line of black italicized German text. The open top of the bowl has a rolled rim and is topped with a closed, dark, silver colored, metal wind cap with a small hinge on the back and a small, curled, handle on the front. The cap has a rounded top and a small hole in the left and right side. There is a small circular ridged band etched in the lid’s surface. Below the image, the bottom of the bowl has a small cylindrical knob extruding from the front. The bottom of the bowl tapers into a stem that extends down at a backward angle. The end of the stem has shallow threading. The bottom of the stem has some light staining from the tobacco residue. b: Long, dark brown, Gesteckpfeife style, tobacco pipe with a vertical two part wood and antler stummel and a white porcelain reservoir. At the top, made from bone, is a black, curved stem with a fishtail bit. The stem (or mouthpiece) has a small, circular, central collar and feeds into the top half of the stummel which is cut from an antler beam of a deer. The antler is brown, the top has several small rounded burrs that expand outward, and the exterior is lined with narrow vertical ridges. A small, silver colored, metal ferrule with a knurled top edge separates the two halves of the stummel. The lower section is made from dark brown wood. The bottom end is tapered and fits inside an oblong, white, porcelain reservoir with a cylindrical spout on the front that holds a detachable bowl (2016.184.114 and 2016.184.115a). A small, green, rope with several knots and a gold colored tassel is tied to the stem. The antler section has a vertical crack in the front and the exterior of the wood section has two small losses.
Subjects
- Smoking--Europe--History.
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Smoking--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Germany.
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
- Porcelain.
- Jews--Folk art.
- Jews in art.
Genre
- Pipes (Smoking)
- Object
- Personal Equipment and Supplies
- Smoking paraphernalia.