Ceramic figure group with 3 pigs as the stereotypical 3 Jews on a bench
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 6.500 inches (16.51 cm) | Width: 7.000 inches (17.78 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 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
Painted earthenware figure group of three pigs in overcoats and hats, sitting close together on a bench holding umbrellas. Their detailed faces have stereotypical Jewish features, such as sidelocks and large, protruding noses. Since the medieval period, antisemites frequently portrayed Jews as pigs, Judensau, because Judaism considers pigs unclean and forbids the consumption of pork. The portrayal of three, usually, older, Jewish men with their umbrellas sitting on a bench was a scene often encountered in spa towns such as Marienbad (now Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic) and Karlsbad, Bohemia, (now Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic) that were popular with European Jewry from the late 19th century. Figurines, small dishes, and cards with this scene were sold as souvenir items. The 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
Lightweight, slipcast, hollow flatback, possibly earthenware figure group, painted in muted black, brown, and red tones, of 3 clothed pigs, seated upright and side by side on a stone bench, clutching umbrellas. Their detailed faces have stereotypical Jewish features: dark sidelocks and eyebrows, hooded eyes, large, protruding noses, missing teeth, and thick lips. They wear long overcoats, buttoned up shirts, boots and distinct headgear: a close fitting cap with a top point, a visored poor boy cap, and a black top hat. They are engaged in conversation, with the left pig talking, as the others listen and smirk. The stone bench is detailed, textured, and painted light brown. The back of the bench is flat with a slight curve and the hollow interior is painted black.
Subjects
- Anti-Jewish propaganda--20th century.
- Jews in art.
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
- Antisemitism--Art.
- Antisemitism in art.
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons.
Genre
- Object
- Decorative Arts