William Adams & Sons stoneware jug with a scene of Oliver Twist meeting Fagin
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 5.000 inches (12.7 cm) | Width: 5.375 inches (13.653 cm) | Depth: 4.250 inches (10.795 cm)
Creator(s)
- William Adams and Sons (Manufacturer)
- 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 pitcher 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
Stoneware jug decorated with two colored illustrations from popular Charles Dickens’ books, manufactured by William Adams & Sons, likely between 1896 and 1920. The image on the front of the jug is from “The Pickwick Papers,” and was originally drawn by Hablot Knight Browne (aka Phiz). The image was first published in November 1837. The image on the back of the jug is from “Oliver Twist,” and was originally drawn by George Cruikshank. It was first published in 1837, with the serialized release of the story. 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 appearance 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 edition of the novel, Dickens reduced his use of “the Jew,” substituting it for pronouns or other phrases. 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 jug 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
Cylindrical, stoneware jug decorated with two transfer printed illustrations and hand-painted details. The jug has a wide mouth a C-shaped handle, and sides that widen at the center and taper towards the narrow base with an inset underside. Colorful, decorative bands encircle the rim below the red-edged lip: a narrow black-and-white band is above a wider orange band flanked by red stripes and decorated with ornate flowers and pottery. The lip is pinched, creating a short spout. The handle is attached opposite the spout, just below the rim. It has red side stripes and an orange floral band on top. On the front of the jug is an outdoor scene depicting a man forcibly dunking another man’s head in a horse trough, on a tree-lined street, while a third man cheers them on. The first man is large and wears a blue coat, white pants, black boots, and a gray, brimmed hat. The second man is thin and wears a black suit. The third man, in a gray suit and black top hat, stands behind them, between two brown columns on a white building. The image on the back of the jug depicts six figures in a room with a dog partially seated beneath a table and a brown chair on the far right. Two boys are standing to the left of the dog. The leftmost boy wears a black top hat and tailcoat with brown pants. He is holding the shoulder of the other boy, who is tentatively leaning back and wears a black, brimmed cap, a brown shirt, and white pants. To the dog’s right is a third boy pointing toward the first two with one hand and holding a candle in the other. He wears a black jacket and white pants. Beside him is an older, stooped, bald man with a large nose and beard. He holds a cap in his hand and wears a long blue gown. To the right of the table, behind the old man, is a large man wearing a white top hat and green jacket and a tall woman dressed in red with a large-brimmed, white hat. Both images have a narrow border, comprised of a line of small, interconnected circles flanked by two thin, green lines. Below each image, in green, is a decorative, rectangular box with a caption. On the bottom of the jug is a maker’s mark and a series mark. The series mark is green and circular, featuring a portrait of a man with a goatee in right profile centered in the circle. Below the man, within the outer circle is a name, and above and below that circle is a line of text. The makers mark is a brown, rectangular card with a white border and diagonal stripes on the front. Overlaid in the center is a white banner with the manufacturer’s name. Lines of worn text are above and below. The manufacturer is impressed in the surface above the marks. There is significant crazing near the base.
Subjects
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Staffordshire (England)
- Antisemitism in art--England.
- Jews in art.
- English literature--Illustrations.
- Fagin (Fictitious character)
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
Genre
- Object
- Pitchers.
- Household Utensils