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Print from a German periodical depicting a Jewish peddler conversing with an older man

Object | Accession Number: 2016.184.400

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    Print from a German periodical depicting a Jewish peddler conversing with an older man

    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    Full-page print from German humor magazine, Düsseldorfer Monathefte, with a satirical illustration and commentary on Jewish peddlers. This illustration is from 1853, printed in Volume 6, Issue 42 of the magazine, which was produced for 14 years in Düsseldorf, Germany. Satirical humor magazines that commented on social, economic, and political situations emerged in Europe during the mid-19th century and grew in circulation and popularity through the early 20th century. Peddlers were itinerant vendors who sold goods to the public. However, old prejudices formed an antisemitic stereotype of the Jewish peddler. The stereotype originated from the economic and professional restrictions placed on early European Jews. They were barred from owning land, farming, joining trade guilds, and military service. These restrictions limited Jews to the occupations of retail peddling, hawking, and moneylending. Additionally, medieval religious belief held that charging interest (known as usury) was sinful, and the Jews who occupied these professions were looked down upon, predominantly by European Christians. They were perceived as morally deficient and willing to engage in unethical business practices. The inability of Jews to legally hold other occupations, combined with Christians’ disdain for the professions Jews were allowed to practice, helped form the canard of the greedy Jew who exploited Gentiles. This canard was often visually depicted as a Jewish peddler, an untrustworthy figure that sold cut-rate items at inflated prices. This illustration is one of the more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic artifacts and visual materials.
    Date
    publication/distribution:  1853
    Geography
    publication: Dusseldorf (Germany)
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Katz Family
    Markings
    front, center, above image, printed, black ink : Düsselddorfer Monthefte [sic] VI. Band No. 42. [Dusseldorf Monthly Volume 6 Issue 42]
    front, center, below image, printed, black ink : Lith. Inst. von Arnz & Co. in Düsseld. [Lithograph Institution of Arnz & Company in Dusseldorf]
    front, lower margin, printed, black ink : „Härsch, wo iss dein Bruder?" / _Gott soll hüte, er iss uff'm Rathhaus, dort wird er abgewandelt mit Fünfe- / zwanzig, weil er hat getriebe en Hausierhandel im Ruckfall._ / „No siehst de" Handel bringt Wandel” ["Härsch, where is your brother?" / _May God protect us, he is at city hall, that's where he's going to be in the reformatory for / 25 years, because of a subsequent offense for peddling._ / "You see" Trade brings change”]
    Contributor
    Compiler: Peter Ehrenthal
    Publisher: Arnz & Comp.
    Biography
    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.

    Physical Details

    Language
    German
    Classification
    Art
    Category
    Prints
    Genre/Form
    Prints.
    Physical Description
    Single-sided page removed from a periodical with a large, black ink print of an engraving and German caption on the front of discolored, off-white paper. Two men are depicted conversing inside what appears to be a residence. Both have stereotypical Jewish features: thick eyebrows, hooded eyes, large, pointed noses, and fleshy lips. The man seated on the left is older and wears pince-nez perched on his nose and a lumpy, black cap over curly white hair that matches his full beard. He is seated in a right-facing chair just behind and to one side of a table. He holds tools in his right hand as he awkwardly leans his elbow on the table, and looks up at the man standing opposite him. The man standing on the right has a long, stringy goatee. He wears a brimmed slouch cap with ill-fitting vest and trousers beneath a large, knee-length overcoat. He gestures with his palms face-up, while holding a saber and bundle of cloth tucked under his left arm, against his side. Beside the table, on the lower left, is a pile of peddler’s goods, including a hat, a pitcher with a lid, and a satchel. The background is detailed, with many objects hanging from support beams on the left, and an open, wooden door on the right. The publication information is centered above and below the image in a narrow, tan border. Printed in the wider margin beneath the illustration, the caption contains dialogue between the two men. There are water stains in the margins, and a piece of tape centered along the top and bottom edges of the paper.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 7.375 inches (18.733 cm)
    Materials
    overall : paper, ink, tape

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    No restrictions on access
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The print was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by 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.
    Special Collection
    Katz Ehrenthal Collection
    Record last modified:
    2023-05-24 16:24:51
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn544501

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