Notes

Anton van Wouw’s miner is seated below an overhanging ledge. With chisel held fast in one hand and hammer poised in the other, he is captured at the moment in which he summons the strength to chip at the solid mineral-bearing rock.

According to photographs in the Van Wouw House Collection in Pretoria, the sculptor initially modelled the figure in the nude to ensure anatomical accuracy before adding the loincloth. The smooth modelling of the miner’s body catches and reflects the light in contrast to the rougher treatment of the rock face of the mineshaft.

Van Wouw’s attention to detail is so precise and the Nisini Foundary casting so good that even at this small scale we are able to observe the finest features – the miner’s furrowed brow, his moustache and meagre beard. Behind him lies a water bottle with its rope handle finely delineated.

Two versions of this subject were produced – a larger sculpture measuring sixty centimetres in height and this smaller version which is signed ‘A van Wouw’ in cursive handwriting on the back at the bottom right and bears the Nisini Foundary name.

Literature

AE Duffey, Anton van Wouw, The Smaller Works, Protea Book House, Pretoria, 2008, pages 89-92.