Strauss & co - 20 May 2019, Johannesburg

119 223 Anton vanWouw SOUTH AFRICAN 1862–1945 Bust of Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr inscribed with the artist’s name bronze with a dark brown patina, on a bell-shaped wooden base; cast by the Prowazeck Stöxen foundry, Leiden height: 43 cm R500 000 – 600 000 Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr – or Onze Jan, as he was affectionately nicknamed – was a long-serving member of the Cape House of Assembly, and wielded much political influence in the Cape Colony in the decades prior to Union, particularly among the Dutch-speaking supporters of the Afrikanerbond (an organisation not to be confused with the later Afrikaner Broederbond). This handsome bust is certainly related to the commission Van Wouw received in 1915 to produce a large-scale statue of Onze Jan for Cape Town’s Church Square. Sitting proudly atop a bell-shaped base, this is the only known bronze casting of this bust. It is still unclear when it came out of the Prowazeck Stöxen foundry in Leiden – most likely in 1915 – but the sharp casting of the gently frowning brow and the luxurious beard gives the bust a weighty, lifelike presence. Onze Jan died in London in October 1909, just months before Louis Botha was installed as the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa. TWOVIEWS OF LOT 223