Strauss & co - 21 October 2013, Cape Town

3 A pair of Cape keurboom tolletjie chairs, first quarter 18th century each with turned top and bottom rails united by five vertical ring-turned spindles, turned and ring-turned side supports headed by finials, riempie seat, on turned legs with bell-shaped feet joined by double-box-stretchers (2) R30 000 – 40 000 LITERATURE Viljoen, Deon and Rabe, Piér. (2002) Cape Furniture 1680-1900, Cape Town, exhibition catalogue, illustration number 2. NOTES “ Tolletjie chairs are amongst the earliest seat furniture made at the Cape and would therefore have been made of suitable timber found on and around Table Mountain, such as white pear, wild peach, wild olive, and smaller shrub-like trees such as keurboom. The timber from any of these trees would have been ideal for chairs because it is strong and durable, it seasons easily and can be turned with relative ease. The tolletjie chair is a hybrid of several chair forms, incorporating influences from both Europe and the East adapted to local conditions. These are particularly fine examples, not only in their original state, but also bearing witness to the skill of the turner in the coherence and articulation of the various turned components. Another example of this maker’s work is in the Worcester Museum, Cape, illustrated in M. Baraitser, and A. Obholzer, Cape Country Furniture, second edition, Cape Town, 1978, p. 28” Viljoen, Deon and Rabe, Piér. (2002) Cape Furniture 1680-1900, Cape Town, exhibition catalogue. THE DR JOHAN BOLT CAPE COLLECTION | LOTS 1-96 17