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.

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  • A Cape Neo-classical stinkwood, teak and fruitwood rusbank, early 19th century
  • A Cape Neo-classical stinkwood, teak and fruitwood rusbank, early 19th century
  • A Cape Neo-classical stinkwood, teak and fruitwood rusbank, early 19th century
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Lot Estimate
ZAR 40 000 - 50 000
Current Bid
Starting at ZAR 40 000
Location
Cape Town
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About this Item

A Cape Neo-classical stinkwood, teak and fruitwood rusbank, early 19th century the four-chair back with arched top-rail carved with four oval cartouches each centred by a spray of flowers above a pierced back splat, curved arms, caned seat, on fluted square-section tapering legs joined by side stretchers, 187cm long

Provenance

Vredenhof, Rosebank, Cape Town

Stephan Welz & Co, Cape Town, 16 October 2001, lot 404

Stephan Welz & Co, Cape Town, 18 October 2006, lot 414

Literature

Michael Baraitser and Anton Obholzer (1987) Town Furniture of the Cape, Cape Town: Struik, illustrated on page 199.

Michael Baraitser and Anton Obholzer (2004) Cape Antique Furniture, Cape Town: Struik, illustrated on page 223.

Notes

The developmental pattern of the rusbank approximates to that of the chair and the design of the majority of Cape settees is one of single chairs joined together. The Neo-classical rusbank typically have fluted, tapering legs and simple vertical back slats. This example has no H-stretcher, only rails for reinforcement.

Whilst most early Cape pieces were influenced by European furniture, the rusbank is typically South African and was used as seating for the stoep and hall.

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