This is a daguerrotype of Judah P. Benjamin, a politician who served in the U.S. Senate and in various cabinet positions in the Confederate government. At the tim, he was the highest-ranking Jew in any North American government.

Daguerrotypes were popular alternatives to silhouettes. They were cheaper, and they took less time to produce. They were popular in the Jewish community because the typical pose the subject took helped deemphasize traditionally Semitic features, as opposed to silhouettes, which emphasized the profile.

In this image, Benjamin appears with a slight smile and sits with a relaxed posture. He is well-dressed, but his shirt is tucked in unevenly. He wears no accessories, and there are no other objects in the image.

These photographs of Isaac Phillips and his wife, Sophia Phillips, are daguerreotypes that replaced silhouettes as a less expensive portrait. The shift to using daguerreotypes is arguably related to increased antisemitism in the mid-1800s. Earlier silhouettes featured the subject’s profile view, whereas daguerreotypes show the sitter facing forward or angled slightly. Due to these side profiles resulting in antisemitic caricature in the early 1800s, one appeal of adopting daguerrotypes was to convey a representation of the subject that limited the display of Semitic features and potential racist response. In the images, Isaac is pictured with a slight smile on his face, well-dressed, and a book at his side. Sophia’s facial expression differs noticeably from her husband’s as she looks forward with a straight face on the verge of a frown. Her hair is covered by a bonnet and is also dressed nicely. Neither subject wears any accessories, and their posture is relaxed, resting their arms on a side table while sitting upright. Considering the single print of daguerreotypes and a somewhat laborious process to make them, it is likely that the Phillips took the photographs for personal use to document their family history.

The portrait of Sally Greenwald displayed on the cartes-de-visites illustrates many of the artistic changes that came with a transition away from daguerrotypes. As photographic methods became faster and easier to duplicate, portraits assumed a more intimate meaning. Cartes-de-visites allowed wealthy elites to turn their image into a commodity which affirmed social status. Sally’s dress and jewelry indicate her desire to appear wealthy. However, her body language points to other meanings. In the portrait of Greenwald, she gazes off to the side of the frame with a slight smile. Her unique gaze generates a sense of intimacy and affection. The position of her face also emphasizes her profile, deviating from posing that Jewish people typically chose to minimize their semitic features. Perhaps the cartes-de-visite with the portrait of Sally Greenwald were intended for distribution to family members as a memento, thus explaining the personable gaze.

source: William L. Clements Library Archive, at University of Michigan. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wcl1ic/x-5422/WCL005499?lasttype=boolean;lastview=thumbnail;resnum=20;size=20;sort=relevance;start=1;subview=detail;view=entry;rgn1=wcl1ic_g;select1=phrase;q1=Cartes%2520de%2520visite%25201860-1900.

Some of you may have seen a news article about the “Rare Colonial-era Mikveh Unearthed in Venezuela.” I ended up cutting it from the readings in order to get us back on track, but if you want the inside scoop on this find, check out the entry by Blanca de Lima (Universidad Nacional Experimental Francisco de Miranda), Coro Mikveh (Venezuela, c. 1853-60). You will see the newspaper has some out of date info, though I love their photo! 😉

Jewish Women!

Applications are live for both graduate and undergraduate students interested in the 2021 HBI (Hadassah-Brandeis Institute) Gilda Slifka Internship. The Gilda Slifka Internship Program provides students with a variety of opportunities to learn about the work of Jewish women’s and gender studies and try their hand at research in the field. Application due March 15th! More information and to apply: https://www.brandeis.edu/hbi/programs/internship/index.html

Material Culture!

Bard Graduate Center is excited to announce their 2021 Undergraduate Summer School in Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture. Open to advanced undergraduates (rising juniors and seniors) and recent college graduates, the program draws on resources at BGC and around New York City to provide an intensive, two-week program on material culture studies. Our topic for 2021 is “Re-Dress and Re-Form: Intersectionality in the History of Fashion and Design, 1850 to Today.” The course will introduce students to the history of design and fashion in the United States and Europe from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day with a focus on how conceptions of race, gender, and class have shaped the world of goods as we know it. Led by faculty members Michele Majer and Freyja Hartzell, this summer school will combine small seminars and behind-the-scenes access to collections. Eligible for three upper-level undergraduate credits.

Program dates: Monday, July 12–Friday, July 23, 2021
Applications due: April 1, 2021Contact: summer.school@bgc.bard.edu

Hoping people will love this 3D rendering of the Jodensavanne (Suriname) synagogue as much as I do. Below are pictures of it before it was destroyed (it is the tallest building in the town) as well as the remains today

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/3c615fc2ce14c0f2fc2d1d1b02e6bde5/Suriname-Para-Jodensavanne-synagogue?hl=es

The image above is an oil canvas portrait of Abraham Rodrigeuz Brandon, a Barbadian born Jew. Brandon was very involved in the Nidhe Israel congregation in Bridgetown, Barbados and was the parnas (financier) for the congregation. Brandon’s full sized portrait is representative of his elite status in society. The clothes he bears are clearly very fine clothes which help highlight and elevate his status. The beautiful nature background as well seems to intentionally imply a high level of wealth since it requires much more detail and time than a plain backdrop. The fact that this portrait was painted by John Welsey Jarvis, a very famous painter at the time, goes to show that immense level of riches and prestige Brandon had (due to his involvement in sugar trade).

To Mrs. Rebecca Gomez,

A few months now I’ve been visiting your Chocolate Canufactory, and I am routinely surprised by the variation in products offered. You have familiarised me with products I never have dreamed of, foremost having been Chocolate, and each time I come I shiver to think what next might meet me! I consider you my Guide to the world’s bounty, although I never set foot out of New York.

It is a longstanding tradition in my family to be wary of those potential dangers so abound in Modern Society, and I confess this learning has oft kept me from running afoul in my life, and you sparked caution in me whence I learned firstly of your personal history and your family’s dubious affiliations, but then there must be exceptions to the rule, and while I cannot speak for your family, I can say that you are indeed one of the good ones, hiding your unnatural and compromising faith from the face of your business.

I count you among those who have given me a taste of the natural world, endowed to all of man by the Creator, and this is undeniably His work. I pray you have a swell week, and I will see you the next, surely the next after that if not.

Sincerely,

Christopher Williams

The advertisement from Rebecca Gomez’s store reveals a shocking variety of places goods came from in a small town store.

Moses Benjamin Seixas was a key member of the Shearith Israel congregation in New York, as well as the husband of Judith Levy, a Kingston-born jewish woman. The Shearith community, which enjoys continued prominence to this day, has its origins in the Spanish and Portuguese congregation that resided in Kingston. The Seixas family were deeply involved in New York’s jewish community, and their pre-eminence is evidenced by their choice of portrait artist, Henry Inman. Inman was the vice president of the National Academy of Design, was commissioned by the US government to produce portraits for the Capitol, and has work in both the collections of the White House and on display at the National Portrait Gallery. While the ‘Spanish and Portuguese congregation of the Caribbean may have once had to hide their activities, by the time they became the Shearith of New York, they were bumping shoulders with the sorts of creatives who were closest to the center of power in the United States.