Strauss & Co brings the magic to Cape Town, realising superb results across the week’s sales

30 Mar 2026

A packed auction room at the start Strauss & Co’s flagship Cape Town Auction Week heralded a mood of sustained enthusiasm for the superb consignments offered in the company’s Woodstock salesroom. Held across two days, on 24 and 25 March 2026, the sales saw excellent results for paintings by Irma Stern, Gerard Sekoto, and J.H. Pierneef, as well as remarkable prices for Cape furniture and Asian ceramics from an important private collection.

Excited applause greeted the sale of a Cape stinkwood and beefwood armoire for R1.9 million / $113 688, a stunning result for a once-prized collectable that in recent years has languished at market. The large, freestanding cabinet, sold to a room buyer after more than 60 competitive bids, formed part of Generations of Collecting: An Important Collection of Cape Silver, Oriental Ceramics, Furniture and Art, a two-part sale composed of diverse collectables acquired by three generations of a single family.

The quality of this consignment attracted bidders from 29 countries and ultimately earned R12.6 million / $740 000 from 242 lots sold (88.64% lot sell-through rate). Generations of Collecting opened with a gorgeous pastel by Gwelo Goodman portraying Table Mountain, a fitting opener for a sale devoted to Cape artisinal traditions, notably silverware and furniture, and stocked with collectables linked to the city’s history as a port linked to east-west trade. The quality of the collectables saw the Day Sale run to more than five hours, overshooting its allocated time.

“It was hugely encouraging to see collectors actively engaged and bidding throughout the entire duration of Cape Town Auction Week,” says Frank Kilbourn, Chairperson, Strauss & Co. “The energy was palpable, even at the preview events, and participants in our auctions were genuinely excited about what we were presenting. All the pre-auction work, from the exhibitions and talks to the discrete client engagements, came together to create an experience that was both meaningful and engaging.”

Adds Frank Kilbourn: “Whether you look at the overall results for the various single-owner collections or choose to zoom in on individual results, like the fantastic prices achieved for a Cape armoire and contemporary artists like Doreen Southwood and Mmangaliso Nzuza, there can be no doubt of Strauss & Co’s ability to attract and steward potential buyers. We are able to reach important buyers, not only in South Africa but globally. The extended runtime of the Day Sale is a testament to how captivated everyone was by the works we offered.”

Cape Town Auction Week presented a number of noteworthy collections, among them modernist artworks by the likes of Irma Stern and J.H. Pierneef from the Stan and Li Boiskin Art Collection. All the Sterns and Pierneefs from the Boiskin Art Collection sold, as did a quartet of works by George Pemba, including The Orator, 1991, sold for R554 520 / $28 130.

There was hushed silence when Irma Stern’s Mantilla, 1961, described by senior auctioneer Bina Genovese as a “gorgeous, sensitively achieved late-career work”, initially attracted no bids. A brief flurry of bids followed, culminating in a telephone buyer securing the work for R3.66 million / $214 491, the top price for evening.

Gerard Sekoto’s sensitively rendered oil, Game of Draughts in a Crowd, c.1940-41, from the collection of Patricia Fine, a former mayor of Cape Town, attracted considerable interest. It sold after 25 bids to an online buyer for R2.63 million / $154 165.

But, as in years past, it was once again a night dominated by Stern. Another late work linked to Stern’s Iberian travels, Slender Nude, 1961, fetched R1.5 million / $87 137, while her Still Life with Grapefruit, 1954, sold for R1.8 million / $107 245. Demand for Maggie Laubser, a contemporary of Stern, was uneven but not without high points. Painted two years before Laubser’s death, Two Cranes, 1971, sold for R635 388 / $ 37 236, while a larger undated work, Landscape with Huts, Trees, Clouds, Wood Carriers and Sheep, achieved R693 150 / $40 621.

Cape Town Auction Week witnessed a stunning debut at auction for Mmangaliso Nzuza, whose 2023 painting Still Becoming sold to a room bidder for R438 995 / $25 727. Georgina Gratrix’s All that Glitters, 2021, a still life in the contoured style of Georges Rouault, sold for R199 325 /$11 681. Penny Siopis’ Pinky Pinky: Toenails, a striking figurative work from 2002 in tones of pink, sold above estimate for R175 875 / $10 307.

From the sculpture consignment, Doreen Southwood’s award-winning work The Swimmer, 2003, was a source of auction-room buzz. Room, telephone and online bidders all vied for the work, which sold to an online buyer after protracted bidding for R577 625 / $33 851. Guy du Toit’s bronze Hare Sitting on a Crate sold above estimate for R577 625 / $33 851, as did Igshaan Adams’ suspended wire sculpture Cloud VIII, 2019, which achieved R369 680 / $21 665.

The top-selling lots from the two sessions for Generations of Collecting: An Important Collection of Cape Silver, Oriental Ceramics, Furniture and Art included the aforementioned Cape armoire and an engraved glass goblet. Two dogged telephone bidders pursued the glass goblet with Rococo-engraved maritime scenes and VOC motifs from the mid-18th century, which was eventually secured for R462 100 / $27 019.

A Qing-dynasty Dehua porcelain figure portraying Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, or Damo in China, smashed its pre-sale estimate, selling for R635 388/ R37 151.The first hints of the deep interest in the Chinese ceramics was registered in the Day Sale, when a pair of Kangxi-period blue and white porcelain rice bowls sold R300 365 / $17 605, surpassing the high estimate by 3 250%. A group of six Chinese blue and white porcelain miniature vases from the Qing dynasty also smashed pre-sale expectations when it sold for R50 453 / $2 957.

Five Edo-period Arita dishes with the monogram of the Dutch East India Company also attracted considerable interest. The opening lot in tehgroup, notable for its freer decorative design, drew strong bids and sold for R234 500 / $ 13 745. The remaining four plates, all with a segmented border with alternating panels of motifs, also found buyers. A medium Arita dish with the monogram of the VOC, surrounded by two birds amongst pomegranate and camellia, sold for R211 050 / $ 12 370.

The upbeat mood in the salesroom saw top prices paid for Cape furniture and silver. A bow-fronted Cape stinkwood corner cupboard sold for R311 918 / $ 18 282, and a Cape stinkwood side table mounted with a Robben Island slate-top achieved R199 325 / $11 683. A Cape silver teapot by Daniel Heinrich Schmidt, c.1768-1811, sold for R234 500 / $13 745, and a Cape silver sugar bowl and cover by Frederik Lambertus Hermann, c.1800-11, sold for R164 150 / $9 621.

The contents of the Generations of Collecting sale extended to a fine assortment of early Cape paintings. Refreshingly, Gwelo Goodman’s drawings and paintings attracted keen bids. His Harbour with Table Mountain in the Distance sold for R128 975 / $ 7 560. Gregoire Boonzaier’s attractive View of Table Bay, District Six, 1973, sold for R346 575 / $20 314.

Speaking immediately after the conclusion of Cape Town Auction Week, Bina Genovese, executive director and senior auctioneer Strauss & Co said: “We have witnessed something truly special, with precedents for Cape furniture that I haven’t seen in perhaps 15 years. The combination of team dedication, audience engagement, and the genuine passion we brought to the presentation created an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. I am very proud of the outcome.”

Two online-only sales helped push the headline earnings for Cape Town Auction Week to over R50 million. Celebrating Silver, a sale of collectable silver, achieved R1.7 million from 72 lots sold (96% sell through). Uncovered Classics, a sale of jewellery, generated R1.5 million from 71 lots sold. Notable individual sales included an assembled set of Victorian silver flatware from William Eaton and Chawner & Co, London, sold for R187 600. A yellow gold bracelet with 12 charms attached sold for R128 975 and a slender women’s Art Deco diamond cocktail wristwatch from the 1930s fetched R99 541.

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