Strauss & co - 6 February 2012, Cape Town

150 481 Pieter Hugo NAUDÉ SOUTH AFRICAN 1868-1941 A Cape Homestead signed oil on card 25,5 by 35,5cm R200 000 – 300 000 In the opinion of Dr Helen Robinson, Cape historian and author of the recently published The Villages of the Liesbeeck , 2 the homestead may well be Malta Farm. This conclusion was arrived at largely by a process of elimination and because the homestead was an as yet unspoilt example of the mid nineteenth century Cape vernacular. Unlike most other houses in the area, the thatching on Malta Farm’s roof was drawn down over the hipped end, as it is depicted here. Noted architectural historian, Dr Hans Fransen, describes this Cape homestead with its half-hipped roof ends as mid nineteenth century Peninsula style. 1 Located to the east of the mountains, with Devil’s Peak directly behind it and partly obscuring Table Mountain, the homestead would probably have been in Mowbray or Observatory. Hugo Naudé would have spent some time in this area given that his father-in-law, Dr J Brown, lived in Mowbray.