Collecting and Material Culture

Jewish country houses embodied a certain vision of the world and the place of Jews within it; this vision was expressed through architecture, through interiors and especially through art collections, assembled by Jewish and non-Jewish intermediaries. Differing considerably in scale and style, all these houses nonetheless articulated notions of civilisation, cultural identity and nationhood through material culture. 

This research strand will ask what these houses reveal about pan-European networks of collectors, antiques dealers and taste-makers? What was distinctive about Jewish forms of collecting in the country house; what trends did it follow, which periods did it favour, which styles did it emulate, and in what areas did it innovate? Moreover, what does the formation of country house collections reveal about how Jews conceived of their relationship to national pasts, the history of art and the progress of civilisation?

To date, the study of Jews as collectors has fragmented into the study of specific dynasties or individuals. By considering Jewish dealers as a transnational cohort, linked together by a web of Jewish intermediaries and dealers, the project will connect the emergence of Jewish country houses to the wider consolidation of Jewish artistic expertise.

Featured Publications: Books

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jewish dealers cover

With a wide variety of illustrations, including paintings, decorative arts, historic photographs and archival material, the volume adopts a mix of methodological approaches to analyse a key chapter in Jewish cultural history and in the history of the international art market.

Jewish Dealers and the European Art Market, c. 1860–1940: Negotiating Cultural Modernity: Contextualizing Art Markets Tom Stammers Bloomsbury Visual Arts

Published 23 January 2025

Hardback 336pp

ISBN 9781350473683 Bloomsbury Visual Arts

 

Featured Journal Articles

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Journal of the History of Collections, Volume 34, Issue 3, October 2022, Pages 413–426, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhc/fhac005

24 February 2022.

This article reassesses the collecting activities of Herbert Stern (1851–1919), 1st Baron Michelham, and his wife, Geraldine (1882–1927), at the start of the twentieth century, when their lives were lived partly in France and partly in Britain. The first section provides a general overview of the Stern family and their social, cultural and philanthropic activities, which were comparable in scope and range with those of other German–Jewish families established in the United Kingdom at the time. The later sections outline their progressive detachment from this model in favour of a decidedly cosmopolitan direction, a transformation initiated by Lord and Lady Michelham and completed with the assistance of the Jewish art dealer Joseph Duveen.

Journal of the History of Collections, Volume 34, Issue 3, October 2022, Pages 427–440, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhc/fhac006

Published: 04 April 2022

Alfred Mond (1868–1930), 1st Baron Melchett, was a towering figure in early twentieth-century politics and economics, but his significance as an art collector has never been acknowledged. Like his brother, Robert, he has been overshadowed by the stature of his father, Ludwig Mond, with whose collections both were intimately involved. This essay uses the evidence of Alfred Mond’s collections of paintings, sculptures and antiquities to consider his relationship to his German cultural heritage, as well as his evolving understanding of his Jewishness. It seeks to reclaim Mond’s significance as a patron and lover of the arts in both a public and a private capacity.

Journal of the History of Collections, Volume 34, Issue 3, October 2022, Pages 375–386, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhc/fhab059

Published: 02 February 2022

Key Events in this Research Strand
montefiore thanet orphanage visit

'Jewish Philanthropy: Solidarity, Antisemitism and Cultural Heritage' 

This conference, which was held in June 2024, explored the objectives, consequences and diverse national cultures of Jewish philanthropy in Britain and Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. 

Read a summary of the conference here and further reflections here.
william orpen/ otto beit in his study at belgrave square
'Jewish Dealers and the European Art Market (1850-1930). This workshop, held in partnership with the Gilbert Collection at the V&A, examined the social and commercial connections of Jewish dealers across Europe, the hostility they encountered, and their role in the development of the global art market.
jewish collectors conference group
'Jewish Collectors and Patterns of Taste (1850-1930): this workshop took place in June 2022 and explored the networks and cultural horizons of Jewish collectors across Europe, examining their contribution to key artistic trends. Read the workshop report here.