Porcelain bottle stopper with a painted finial depicting a Jewish stereotype
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 2.500 inches (6.35 cm) | Diameter: 1.250 inches (3.175 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 bottle stopper 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
Porcelain bottle stopper in the shape of a small bust, depicting a Jewish man’s head. This bottle stopper has a design similar to another stopper made by Gardner Porcelain Works in Dmitrov, Russia, near the end of the 19th century. The man is wearing a skullcap and has a large hooked nose, sidelocks, a beard, and fleshy lips; all stereotypical physical features commonly attributed to Jewish men. Jews have historically been persecuted and demonized. They have been associated with and called “children of the devil,” accused of deicide, treacherous conspiracies, and treasonous acts by influential figures and archaic Christian beliefs. These defamations are often visually depicted through antisemitic or malevolent features and characteristics, such as horns and cloven feet. They have also been depicted with distorted facial features, including bulging eyes and large or hooked noses. This bottle stopper 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
Porcelain bottle stopper shaped as a Jewish man’s head. He has a pointed, brown beard with thick, matching sidelocks, a large hooked nose, and red, fleshy lips. He is wearing a black skullcap, and in the back, his long hair extends from beneath its lower edge. Extending from the bottom of the stopper is small, cylindrical, threaded, white shank. The paint has faded and worn-off throughout, especially on the man’s hair and beard. There is a small chip on the back edge of his neck.
Subjects
- Stoppers (Implements)
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
- Antisemitism--History--19th century.
- Porcelain--19th century.
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Jews in art.
Genre
- Object
- Household Utensils
- Tableware.