Judenporzellan

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Judenporzellan (literally "Jewish Porcelain") is a designation for inferior china produced by the royal Berliner Porzellanmanufaktur owned by Frederick the Great in the late 1700s. In order to increase business, he decreed in 1769 that a tax on Jews in the form of coerced purchases from his factory would be levied on Jews in order to obtain marriage, death, business and other certificates and permits (Glueck 1998). Some accounts claim that the twenty porcelain monkeys belonging to the heirs of Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786) are Judenporzellan (Hartmann 2006). Although some authorities doubt the authenticity of these family stories based on chronology and provenance -- at least one of the monkeys is of Meissen manufacture (Todd 2003).

[edit] References

• Hartmann, P.W. Das grosse Kunstlexikon accessed October 12, 2006
• Glueck, Grace Art in Review June 5, 1998 New York Times
• Todd, Larry Mendelssohn: A Life in Music 2003 Oxford U. Press
• Nayman Shira Awake in the Dark 2006 Scribner Leonard Lopate Show Oct 11, 2006 WNYC 12:13