Tan ceramic beer stein with a lid painting of Susanna in the bath on the lid
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 6.125 inches (15.558 cm) | Width: 4.125 inches (10.478 cm) | Depth: 5.625 inches (14.288 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 beer stein 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
Ceramic beer stein with a pewter lid encasing a painted porcelain image of Susanna in the bath. It depicts two Jewish men peeping through a wall at a woman taking a shower in her bathing dress. The title refers to the Biblical episode, but since the picture is a contemporary one, the painter's insult makes clear that this predatory behavior has been ingrained in Jews for centuries. Steins with anti-Jewish images were very popular in late 19th century Germany. The constitution of the newly unified Germany, adopted in 1871, emancipated all Jews. The following decades saw a surge in anti-semitism. It was more vicious and openly expressed, and became a popular cause for several political parties. This object is one of more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic visual materials.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Cylindrical ceramic stein, painted light brown, with a curved ceramic handle and a lid with a pewter rim, pewter thumblift with an oval and trefoil design, and pewter mountings. Within the rim is a slightly domed porcelain inlay with a painted scene of 2 men behind a wooden shower stall peeking at a woman taking a shower. The man dressed in a black robe is in right profile and has stereotypically Jewish features: a long, protruding nose, thick brows, and pointed beard, with a kippah over his bushy dark hair. The man behind him wears a purple tunic and is balding with curly brown hair. They peer around the vertical back panel of an outdoor shower platform. On the other side, a dark haired woman in a pink shower cap and a white, short sleeved, knee length bathing costume with pink bow and ruffles stands under a spray of water released by the chain she is pulling. The stein body has 3 monochrome panels with bas-relief designs bordered by raised bands. In the center, a bearded man stands on 1 leg behind a large hanging scale, holding the right end. The right tray is higher and stacked with bowls and the left tray is lower and stacked with steins. The identical left and right panels depict a twisting vine with large leaves, berries, and spiraled ends.
Subjects
- Antisemitism in art.
- Jews--Germany--19th century--Pictorial works.
- Germany--Antisemitism--1871-1918--Pictorial works.
- Anti-Jewish propaganda--Germany--19th century.
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons--19th century.
- Folk art--Antisemitism--Germany.
- Antisemitism--Germany--19th century.
Genre
- Household Utensils
- Object