Ginori porcelain figurine of the Wandering Jew
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 5.750 inches (14.605 cm) | Width: 2.750 inches (6.985 cm) | Depth: 2.750 inches (6.985 cm)
Creator(s)
- Ginori Porcelain Factory (Manufacturer)
- 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 figurine 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
Capodimonte-style porcelain figurine of the Wandering Jew, manufactured by Ginori Manufactory in Doccia, Italy, likely during the early or mid-19th century. Originally, the Royal Factory of Capodimonte manufactured Capodimonte porcelain between 1743 and 1759. However, Capodimonte now refers to porcelain designs that have emotive Italian styling typical of those earlier pieces. Marchese Carlo Ginori established the Ginori Porcelain Manufactory in Doccia in 1735. During the first decades of the 1800s, Ginori purchased the Royal Capodimonte factory molds and equipment and began manufacturing Capodimonte-style porcelain. The Wandering Jew is an antisemitic legend of a Jewish man (in some versions named Ahasuerus) who taunted Jesus on his way to be crucified. In response, Jesus said, “I stand and rest, but you will go on,” dooming him to live until the end of the world or the second coming of Christ. The story’s origin is uncertain, although parts may have been inspired by biblical passages. Some versions name the wanderer Cartaphilus, and claim he was Pontius Pilate’s doorkeeper, who struck Jesus, urging him to go faster on the path to his crucifixion. The Ahasuerus version can be traced back to a German pamphlet published in 1602, which was translated into several languages and widely distributed. The story of the Wandering Jew has been portrayed and depicted in works of art, poetry, literature, plays, and films. This figurine 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
White porcelain figurine with hand painted details of a man in tattered traveling clothes with a weary, worried expression. He presses the fingers of his left hand to his creased forehead and rests on a walking stick held his right. He has a white/pink complexion, brown arched eyebrows, deepset, hooded dark eyes, a hooked nose, and brown sidelocks, mustache and pointed beard. He wears a black hat, a patched red tunic, a white, square collared shirt with a gilt line border, and baggy green breeches and white stockings with black shoes. His left foot is flat and his right leg is slightly bent, as if he has just gotten up from the tree stump near his leg. He stands on a square white pedestal with a green and brown top and a gold band around the sides.
Subjects
- Antisemitism--Italy--History.
- Antisemitism in art.
- Capodimonte porcelain.
- Wandering Jew in art.
- Doccia (Italy)
- Christianity and antisemitism--History.
- Stereotypes (Social psychology) in art.
- Jews--Italy--Art.
Genre
- Decorative Arts
- Figurines.
- Object