Iron dish with a Jewish man passing horizontally through a pig

Identifier
irn538378
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2016.184.210
Dates
1 Jan 1800 - 31 Dec 1899
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 0.625 inches (1.588 cm) | Width: 5.250 inches (13.335 cm) | Depth: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm)

Creator(s)

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 plate 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

Cast iron plate made in Austria during the 19th century, depicting a Jewish man passing horizontally through a pig: his feet stick out of the mouth and his head sticks out of the rear. The bearded man is wearing a kippah on his head and has a large, hooked nose; all stereotypical physical features commonly attributed to Jewish men. Pigs are deemed “unclean” in the Book of Leviticus, and widely known as a non-kosher animal, meaning that Jews do not consider them fit for consumption. Knowing of this prohibition, antisemites weaponized pigs for use against Jews. Pork products have been thrown into or at synagogues, and force-fed to Jews on pain of death. Jews have been called the descendants of apes and pigs, and accused of associating with and worshiping pigs. The depiction of Jews with pig-like features, or in close and often lewd contact with pigs, is also a common antisemitic image that can be traced back to the medieval Germanic kingdoms. The original motif, called a Judensau, depicted several Jews in indecent contact with a female pig, and was originally displayed in churches, and later disseminated to the public through other mediums such as art, woodcuts, and figurines. Over time the depiction evolved, and new motifs of Jews riding swine, consuming the wrong parts of the pig, or being consumed by a pig were produced. The plate 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

Oval, dark gray colored cast metal dish with a coarse bas relief of a large pig on all fours, facing left, with a man’s calves, socks, and shoes, toes pointing down, sticking out its open mouth and the man's head sticking out the pig's rear. The man’s head protrudes, face down, from beneath its curly tail. He wears a kippah and has short hair, a large nose and ears, and a long, pointed beard. His eyes bulge and his lips are slightly parted. There is a banner with text near his mouth. The dish has a flat, shallow well and an upturned rim with a coarse basket weave border design. The back is uneven, shows the mold impression, and has 3 metal wires twisted around it, possibly a wall mount.

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.