Black wooden cane with a grip carved as a Jewish man’s elongated nose

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. 

The walking stick was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by the Katz Family. 

Black wooden cane with a grip carved as a Jewish man’s elongated nose 

overall: Height: 37.375 inches (94.933 cm) | Width: 1.500 inches (3.81 cm) | Depth: 3.750 inches (9.525 cm) 

Black wooden cane with an attached, probably changeable, grip carved as a Jewish man’s elongated nose. 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 walking stick is one of the more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic artifacts and visual materials. 

No restrictions on access 

No restrictions on use 

Finished, turned, golden brown, L-shaped cane handle with variegated wood grain carved in the shape of a Jewish man’s head attached to a black painted, cylindrical wooden shaft. An exaggeratedly long, slightly arched nose with shallow, elongated nostrils forms the grip. A small, angled kippah forms the rounded end of the grip. He is bald with a rounded back head with a neck roll, very large ears, and long, straight, etched sidelocks. The eyes are inset below protruding eyebrows. The lips are thick, with the mouth open and the corners turned up in a smile. The head is wrapped with a band of scalloped gold metal thread embroidery and set into a deep, silver colored band with remnants of gold wash, an incised ring, and an arabesque rim with holes in the points. This collar is attached to the shaft which tapers near the end into a 1.5 tapered, unpainted, golden brown wooden heel as ferrule. back, on metal band, red marker : 58 A