Wooden cane with a carved grip of a bearded Jewish peddler in a cap
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 37.125 inches (94.298 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 3.250 inches (8.255 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 cane 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
Stained, varnished wooden cane with an attached, carved grip of a bearded Jewish man in a cap. European artisans commonly adorned everyday items such as ceramics, toys, and even walking sticks, with caricatures of Jewish faces. These walking sticks are examples of racial antisemitism becoming part of everyday life. This cane 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
Finished, varnished, stained, red-brown wooden walking stick with a knob handle carved in the shape of a man’s head. It has a rounded cap with a short brim, and long, thick sidelocks. The face is deeply carved with unattractive, exagerrated stereotypical Jewish facial features: heavy eyebrows over bulging, hollow eye sockets, a long crooked nose with a bulbous tip, and a thick lips spread in an unpleasant, toothy grin. A long, thin mustache arches into a long pointed beard, resembling a curled tongue, which extends outward and to the left to form a short finger grip. There is a high shirt collar around the cylindrical neck. The neck is firmly attached to a long, narrow, cylindrical, red-brown varnished wooden shaft with an iron ferrule.
Subjects
- Jewish peddlers--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Jews--Folk art.
- Antisemitism in art--19th century.
- Jews in art.
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
Genre
- Personal Equipment and Supplies
- Object