Strauss & co - 20 May 2013, Johannesburg

101 215 Thomas William BOWLER south african 1812–1869 Panorama of Table Mountain with Bishopscourt in the Distance watercolour 33 by 144 cm R300 000–500 000 notes ‘… the buildings are those of present-day Bishopscourt – granted – (as ‘Boschheuvel’) to Jan van Riebeeck in 1658. What was probably the nucleus of the present house was built in the 1690’s by liquor merchant Guillaume Heems. Johannes Roep, owner from 1773, totally rebuilt the house, giving it it’s present double-storey appearance with single-storeyed back-wings (though with flat roofs), and probably also built the outbuildings, one of which appears in the Bowler watercolour. After several changes of ownership, the farm’s name was changed to Protea and was given a pitched roof. But ever since 1851 it has been the seat of the Archbishop of Cape Town. It underwent further changes, among others by Sir Herbert Baker, but it is still substantially the same complex seen in the Bowler picture, which probably dates from the 1850’s.’ Dr. Hans Fransen Detail 215