Allach porcelain figurine collected postwar by a Jewish member of the French resistance
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 8.500 inches (21.59 cm) | Width: 4.625 inches (11.748 cm) | Depth: 4.875 inches (12.383 cm)
Creator(s)
- Porzellan-Manufaktur Allach-München (Manufacturer)
- Richard Förster (Designer)
- David Farin (Compiler)
Archival History
The figurine was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2020 by Susana Farin Nepomechie, the daughter of David Farin, on behalf of the David and Esther Farin Estate.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of the David and Esther Farin Estate
Scope and Content
Porcelain figure of "Gezaddelter," manufactured by slave labor at Dachau concentration camp, and collected after the war by David Farin, a Jewish member of the French resistance. The Porzellan-Manufaktur Allach (PMA) was founded in 1935 in the Munich suburb of Allach. It produced decorative porcelain pieces with the goal of developing a new echelon of German artistic taste. The factory quickly became a pet-project of SS Reichsführer (Reich leader) Heinrich Himmler, who eventually took control of 45 percent of the output and often gifted figures to various SS officials and friends. In 1937, the primary PMA factory moved to the SS Training and Education Camp, adjacent to Dachau. Beginning in 1940, Jewish prisoners from the camp were forced to work in the factory. Allach factories produced several themed series of figurines. A series of Morris dancers (Moriskentänzer) figurines was produced exclusively for the city of Munich to use as official gifts. They were copied from a series of sculptures commissioned by Munich city authorities and created by Erasmus Grasser in 1480. After production began on the Morris dancer figurines, consumer demand led to the creation of a series of jugglers inspired by the dancers that was available for purchase by the public in 1942. The Allach factory at Dachau continued to run until late April 1945. On April 29, U.S. forces liberated over 32,000 people at Dachau.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Glazed, white porcelain figurine of a man in a pointed, juggler’s hat, his body twisted almost sideways and his arms raised as though mid-motion. His stands in a slightly hunched stance with his weight back on his right leg and his left leg forward, the foot turned outward. His left arm is lifted to shoulder height in a gentle curve, his forearm downward, and his palm open to his body. His right arm is angled down, the forearm drawn forward and across his torso, his palm upward and the fingers slightly curled. His lined face is turned away and he has a focused gaze, prominent nose, and slightly parted lips turned up in a smile. He has a short, two-pointed beard at his chin, and a long mustache. He wears a pointed, triangular hat with a high, folded brim at the front. The tasseled tip hangs down at the back, while a pattern of raised balls decorates the body and brim. A scarf with trailing ends holds the hat on by wrapping from between the brim and body, below his chin, and then around his neck. He wears a thigh-length tunic decorated with tassels at the ends of elbow-length sleeves and alternating with the many points around the bottom hem. The tunic has a deep V-shaped collar and is worn over a shirt with tight, three-quarter-length sleeves. His leggings are fitted, support bells around his upper left calf, and tuck into slouched shoes with elongated, narrow toes. He stands on a low, irregular, oval-shaped base, which has a maker’s mark and fraktur-style font stamped into the hollow underside. There are several small, circular, dark stains and discoloration on the base and the figure’s back and hat.
People
- Himmler, Heinrich, 1900-1945.
Corporate Bodies
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
- Porzellan-Manufaktur Allach-München
Subjects
- Forced labor--Germany.
- Dachau (Germany)
- World War, 1939-1945--Europe--End.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany.
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation.
- Slave labor--Germany.
- Porcelain, German--20th century.
Genre
- Object
- Decorative Arts
- Figurines.