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.
Glazed, white porcelain figurine of a man in a juggler’s cap with a dagger at the hip, his body twisted 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 right arm is lifted to shoulder height, with the bent elbow back, his forearm downward, and his hand hanging loosely. His left arm is raised, the elbow at his waist and the forearm angled upward. He gestures with his hand, his thumb and index finger meeting to form a circle. His face is lined and he has a focused gaze, prominent nose, and a slight smile. He has a short, two-pointed beard and collar-length hair. He wears a slouched, triangular hat with a high, folded brim. The tasseled tip hangs down to his right, while raised balls decorate the body. A scarf with trailing ends wraps around his neck. He wears a sleeveless, thigh-length tunic with a pointed hem and a deep V-neck at the front over two long-sleeved shirts. One shirt is fitted, while the other has billowing sleeves and a decorative front border. His leggings are fitted, support bells around his upper left calf, and tuck into slouched shoes with pointed toes. A low-slung strap rests around his waist, supporting the dagger at his left hip. The dagger handle is visible, but most of the blade portion is broken off. He stands on a low, irregular, oval-shaped base, which has an impressed artist’s signature on the back and maker’s marks stamped into the hollow underside. There are several rough patches on the upper backs of his legs. There are several small, circular, dark stains and discoloration on the base and the figure’s back.
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overall: Height: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm) | Width: 4.625 inches (11.748 cm) | Depth: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm)
Porcelain figure of “Gaukler mit Dolch” (Juggler with Dagger), 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, including the Juggler with Dagger, 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.
Allach porcelain figurine collected postwar by a Jewish member of the French resistance