A CAPE STINKWOOD AND SILVER MOUNTED ARMOIRE, LATE 18TH CENTU...

Estimate

R180,000 - R200,000

Hammer

R270,000

A CAPE STINKWOOD AND SILVER MOUNTED ARMOIRE, LATE 18TH CENTURY

More Information

The gabled pediment centred by a key block carved with a lamb carrying a flag above a pair of paneled doors enclosing two shelves and three short drawers, paneled sides, three long serpentine drawers below, on bun feet
259cm high, 163cm wide, 67cm deep

LITERATURE
Baraitser M. and Obholzer A., Cape Antique Furniture, Struik, 2004, illustrated as plate 1171, p276

Accompanied by a copy of the history of the armoire as detailed by Mr GH Tanser, stamped in 1976 by Cultural History, SA Museums (now Iziko Museums)

PROVENANCE
It is likely that the Menne armoire was originally made for a member of the de Villiers family, as the lamb carrying a flag on the keyblock is part of the family crest. Near the beginning of the 19th century the armoire came into the possession of the Menne family by unknown means. When Johanna Hellet and Theodore Menne married in 1844 the bride's mother gave her the armoire as a wedding gift. It travelled with the couple from the Cape to KwaZulu Natal and remained in their possession until Theodore Menne’s death in 1905. The armoire was passed down to his son and grandson who did not live for long, and so in 1913 the armoire was bought out of the estate by Theodore's youngest son, Frank. He decided that the armoire should pass to the female line in the family, and so it came into the possession of his eldest daughter Gertrude. It has been passed down in the family and has been on loan to Iziko Museums since 1966 and exhibited at the Slave Lodge in Adderley Street.