Investigation into the provenance of museum collections in connection with the theft, confiscation and sale of objects under duress between 1933 and 1945.

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Albarello

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Albarello

Artist/ Creator
Anonymous (Spain)
Title
Albarello
Year
c. 1400-1500
Technique
Ceramic, polychrome decoration
Size
h. 29,7 cm, Ø12,8 cm
Inventorynumber
OCE-1936-0003
Category
Applied art

Museum

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

Conclusion

This albarello belonged to the collection of Frank and Margarethe Oppenheim, a Jewish couple.

Explanation

The Oppenheims lived in Oppenheim villa at Wannsee, which became infamous as the venue of the eponymous conference held there by the Nazis. Franz Oppenheim, the director of Agfa, died in 1929. His Jewish wife Margarethe died in September 1935. Oppenheim’s heirs put the large and high quality collection up for auction at Julius Böhler in 1936. The result was deposited in a blocked account at Deutsche Länderbank Berlin under the name Nachlass-Konto Frau Margarethe Oppenheim. It is unclear whether the heirs were ever able to access the money made in the sale.
The albarello was included in the Museum Acquisitions 1940-1948 report (Amsterdam 1999). In 2001, the museum appealed to Oppenheim’s heirs through an advert in the Jerusalem Post to contact The Hague municipality. No reaction was forthcoming.

Reconstruction origin

? <> 1936-05-18
Margarethe Oppenheim (collection), Wannsee

Museum inventory; D. Brongers, M. van Houten-de Kom, Eindrapportage Herkomst & Restitutie Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, 22 December 2000; see Julius Böhler cat., Munich, 18 May 1936, no. 720 (ill.)

1936-05-18
Julius Böhler (auction), Munich

Museum inventory; D. Brongers, M. van Houten-de Kom, Eindrapportage Herkomst & Restitutie Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, 22 December 2000; see Julius Böhler cat., Munich, 18 May 1936, no. 720 (ill.)

1936-05-18
Purchased by the museum at Julius Böhler auction
1936-05-18 <> present day
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag