Strauss & co - 12 October 2015, Cape Town

359 A Boer War prisoner of war violin, F A Truscott, 1899-1900 the right hand rib inscribed ‘Gemaakt in Gevangenis *e Eshowe. Zululand voor F.A. Truscott thans politike gevangene voor het n***n opnemen ten gunste ger Boeren in den oorlog van 1899-1901.’, distress, 64,5cm long R10 000–15 000 FA Truscott was a prisoner at the Eshowe Prison. It is recorded in the diary of JJA Prozesky that a way of keeping prisoners’spirits up and of passing the time was by singing patriotic, sentimental, philosophic and melancholic songs. The singing was accompanied by violins built by prisoners from a book which they had ordered. Johannes Michiel Wassermann. (2005) The Natal Afrikaner and the Anglo-Boer War , The University of Pretoria, Thesis 359 360 360 A Boer War prisoner of war fruitwood box, 1903 rectangular, the hinged cover etched ‘F.C. LAUNSPACH, K.G.V. BERMUDA, 1903’ above a pair of floral sprays, moulded base, 12cm high, 23,5cmwide, 15cm deep R8 000–10 000 The South African Museum of Military History has in its collection three wooden napkin rings, one carved with the name ‘F C Launspach’, the other two ‘Bermuda K G V 1904’. ‘KGV’ is an abbreviation for the Dutch word krijgsgevangene , meaning prisoner of war. Allen Sinclair. (1999) ‘Boer prisoner of war handcraft at the South African National Museum of Military History’, Military History Journal, vol. 11 no. 3/4, October 1999 358 359 detail 358 detail 145