Important South African and International Art

Live Auction, 13 November 2017

Session One

Sold for

ZAR 34 104
Lot 114
  • Ernest Mancoba; Untitled


Lot Estimate
ZAR 30 000 - 40 000
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 34 104

About this Item

South African 1904-2002
Untitled
1989

signed, dated 89, numbered 119/120 and inscribed with the title in pencil

colour lithograph
image size: 39 by 28cm

Exhibited

Ernest Mancoba dedicated this lithograph to his sister Edith Ntomtela (1910-2006), Diepkloof, Johannesburg.

One evening in 1990 Ernest Mancoba recalled the Mfingo ancestral history as told by Florence (born Mangwangwa) his mother. Their forebears were fleeing from Shaka’s tyranny in Zululand. Among their clan was an aged and weak granny. At a point she realised that she, being carried by the younger, more able members, was endangering their flight. She insisted and eventually persuaded them to leave her. This gave them a better chance to escape, and they bid her farewell.

The image of the lonely, fragile yet courageous lady that was conjured up in Mancoba’s mind on that evening stuck, and it became an icon. He merged this image with the time-honoured Kota figures of West Africa. The image of Untitled evolved from L’Anc être (1968-70), a major oil on canvas work, now in the Johannesburg Art Gallery. L’Anc être is based on that historic moment of the Mfingo flight.

Elza Miles

Literature

Elza Miles (1994). Lifeline out of Africa: The Art of Ernest Mancoba, Cape Town & Johannesburg: Human & Rousseau. A similar example is illustrated on page 88, plate number 151.

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