South African Design: Past & Present

Timed Online Auction, 13 June - 9 July 2025

Cape Interiors: Furniture, Metalware, Silver & Glass
About the Session

This sale traces the heritage of South African design across centuries of creative expression highlighting diverse design objects through two sessions. Uniting the sessions is a celebration of the versatility of materials - metal, wood, glass, clay, fibre - and how artists and artisans have transformed them over time into works of wonder, rich in both tradition and innovation.

Sold for

ZAR 11 139
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Lot 20
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  • A Cape copper tart pan and cover, TH & BT Lawton, 1863-1891
  • A Cape copper tart pan and cover, TH & BT Lawton, 1863-1891
  • A Cape copper tart pan and cover, TH & BT Lawton, 1863-1891
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Lot Estimate
ZAR 8 000 - 10 000
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 11 139

About this Item

Thomas Hindle and Benjamin Theophilus Lawton
Cape Colony
A Cape copper tart pan and cover, TH & BT Lawton, 1863-1891
the circular pan base and cover with fold-over rims, applied with iron loop handles, raised on three tapering iron supports with pad feet, the cover with strap handle, stamped 'TH BT LAWTON', 41 cm wide over handles

Notes

Tart pans were used in an open hearth for baking. Hot coals were placed below the pan, as well as on the top of the lid. A thin layer of tin was used to line the pan and prevent copper poisoning.

The makers of this tart pan were the sons of Joseph Lawton. Their workshop in Burg Street, Cape Town, was one of the biggest copper-smith workshops at the Cape in the 19th century.

The maker's mark on the side of the lid is in a horizontal line, not the usual circular pattern, suggesting it is an earlier example of their work.

Literature

cf. Deon Viljoen and Piér Rabe (2001) Cape Furniture and Metalware, Cape Town: Struik, a similar example illustrated on pages 108 and 109.

cf. Marius Le Roux (1982) The Cape Copper-Smith, Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch Museum, a similar example illustrated on page 103.

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