Staffordshire character pitcher of Shylock
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 6.000 inches (15.24 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 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
Staffordshire character jug depicting Shylock from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Shylock is a Jewish moneylender who demands that his contract for a pound of flesh, owed him by a youth who failed to repay a loan, be paid in full. First published in 1600 in England, Shylock's characteristics are based upon long standing, stereotypes, still popular in a country where Jews had been expelled 300 years, since 1290. Although some scenes make him sympathetic, and show how society and his Christian enemies cruelly mistreat him, he is punished and forced to convert. The play was extremely popular in Nazi Germany, with fifty productions from 1933-1945. Despite the stereotypical and anti-Jewish elements, the play continues to spark debates over whether it must be considered antisemitic. This pitcher is one of 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
Ceramic pitcher modeled in the form of a man with stereotypical Jewish features: a large, protruding nose, full, red lips, thick eyebrows and hooded eyes, and long gray beard, with a drooping Fu Manchu mustache. He is seated in a white-pink armchair with his skinny arms held across his lap with his hands clasped together. He wears a light green shawl, dark purple gown, curled toe pink slippers, with a gold pouch around his waist. His black skullcap is open on the top for pouring and the handle is an extension attached to the back of the chair.
Subjects
- Antisemitism in art--Great Britain--20th century.
- Christianity and antisemitism--Great Britain--Art--20th century.
- Jews--Persecutions--Great Britain--Art--20th century.
- Antisemitism--Great Britain--20th century.
- Jews in art--Great Britain--20th century.
- Anti-Jewish propaganda--Great Britain--20th century.
- Shylock (Fictitious character) in art.
Genre
- Household Utensils
- Object