Samuel Daniell (1775-1811), Halt of a Boor's Family - a preparatory drawing
Samuel Daniell (1775-1811)
Halt of a Boor's Family - a preparatory drawing
pencil and watercolour on paper laid down on card
squared
unframed
61⁄2 x 91⁄4in. (16.4 x 23.5cm.)
Engraved S. Daniell, African Scenery and Animals, London, 1804-5, pl.17 (‘Halt of a Boors Family’ and ‘Halt in the Desert’).
A squared preparatory drawing for one of the most familiar images from Daniell's African Scenery. There is another sketch for the plate, just showing the wagon and tent, also in the same direction as the plate, in the Bell and Daniell albums in the MuseumAfrica, Johannesburg, for which see R.F. Kennedy, Catalogue of Pictures in the Africana Museum, 2, C-D, Johannesburg, 1967, p.182, D35 ('Halt of a Boor's Family, c.1802, watercolour and pencil, 6½ x 9¼[in.] Unsigned.').
'Those Boors who live at the distance five or six hundred miles from Cape Town generally make one journey thither every year. On such occasions their covered waggons answer all the purposes of a house, and they carry with them the greater part of the family, goats, sheep, dogs, cocks and hens, monkies, or any other favourite animal. These waggons are drawn by oxen, whose usual pace is from two and a half to three miles an hour. To each waggon there is usually a Hottentot driver, and a Hottentot leader of the oxen, besides a number of these people to take care of the draught cattle when turned up to graze. A musket or two and ammunition are indispensably necessary, not only for their protection but also to procure game for their subsistence on the long journey. By the help of a few mats or sail cloths, they usually contrive to skreen themselves from the scortching rays of the sun.' (S. Daniell, African Scenery and Animals, London, 1804-5).
Samuel, the younger brother of William Daniell, R.A. (1769-1837), arrived in the Cape in December 1800 and accompanied the British government's expedition 'to countries beyond the limits of the Colony' (the border with modern-day Botswana) in 1801-2 under Truter and Somerville as draughtsman: 'Looking back on the 'long and dangerous journey' of the past seven months, a trek 'over deserts wide and unfrequented, rivers deep and rapid...[and] a region hitherto unexplored', they saw it as an enthalling experience. In Truter's estimation the expedition had been a great success, and on arrival at the Cape both he and Somerville paid special tribute to young Samuel Daniell, the discoverer of the source of the Kuruman river. Daniell's sketches of natural phenomena and tribal settings, they declared, were scrupulously accurate, beautifully executed and methodically put together. In future, they added, all expeditions should be accompanied by an artist of Daniell's calibre; they should also be accompanied by an enthusiast qualified in one or more of the natural sciences. The findings of such a man, linked with the work of a skilful artist, would be of incalculable value to the Colonial government.' (P. Becker, The Pathfinders, The Saga of Exploration in Southern Africa, London, 1987, pp.122-3).
Please note this lot is the property of a private individual.
Provenance
Private Collection, UK.
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Samuel Daniell (1775-1811)
Halt of a Boor's Family - a preparatory drawing
pencil and watercolour on paper laid down on card
squared
unframed
61⁄2 x 91⁄4in. (16.4 x 23.5cm.)
Engraved S. Daniell, African Scenery and Animals, London, 1804-5, pl.17 (‘Halt of a Boors Family’ and ‘Halt in the Desert’).
A squared preparatory drawing for one of the most familiar images from Daniell's African Scenery. There is another sketch for the plate, just showing the wagon and tent, also in the same direction as the plate, in the Bell and Daniell albums in the MuseumAfrica, Johannesburg, for which see R.F. Kennedy, Catalogue of Pictures in the Africana Museum, 2, C-D, Johannesburg, 1967, p.182, D35 ('Halt of a Boor's Family, c.1802, watercolour and pencil, 6½ x 9¼[in.] Unsigned.').
'Those Boors who live at the distance five or six hundred miles from Cape Town generally make one journey thither every year. On such occasions their covered waggons answer all the purposes of a house, and they carry with them the greater part of the family, goats, sheep, dogs, cocks and hens, monkies, or any other favourite animal. These waggons are drawn by oxen, whose usual pace is from two and a half to three miles an hour. To each waggon there is usually a Hottentot driver, and a Hottentot leader of the oxen, besides a number of these people to take care of the draught cattle when turned up to graze. A musket or two and ammunition are indispensably necessary, not only for their protection but also to procure game for their subsistence on the long journey. By the help of a few mats or sail cloths, they usually contrive to skreen themselves from the scortching rays of the sun.' (S. Daniell, African Scenery and Animals, London, 1804-5).
Samuel, the younger brother of William Daniell, R.A. (1769-1837), arrived in the Cape in December 1800 and accompanied the British government's expedition 'to countries beyond the limits of the Colony' (the border with modern-day Botswana) in 1801-2 under Truter and Somerville as draughtsman: 'Looking back on the 'long and dangerous journey' of the past seven months, a trek 'over deserts wide and unfrequented, rivers deep and rapid...[and] a region hitherto unexplored', they saw it as an enthalling experience. In Truter's estimation the expedition had been a great success, and on arrival at the Cape both he and Somerville paid special tribute to young Samuel Daniell, the discoverer of the source of the Kuruman river. Daniell's sketches of natural phenomena and tribal settings, they declared, were scrupulously accurate, beautifully executed and methodically put together. In future, they added, all expeditions should be accompanied by an artist of Daniell's calibre; they should also be accompanied by an enthusiast qualified in one or more of the natural sciences. The findings of such a man, linked with the work of a skilful artist, would be of incalculable value to the Colonial government.' (P. Becker, The Pathfinders, The Saga of Exploration in Southern Africa, London, 1987, pp.122-3).
Please note this lot is the property of a private individual.
Provenance
Private Collection, UK.
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
