THE DROSTDY MUSE NEWS
Volume 3, Number 1
10 January 2007
Editorial
We wish all our friends and associates a healthy, prosperous and peaceful 2007. Amidst all the hustle and bustle, we need to take time out to reflect on our objectives. Historians and philosophers from time immemorial have advised us that only in learning from our common human past can we move confidently and with any meaning move into the future. In pursuit of this educational and social objective museums have an enormous role to play. The Drostdy is no exception, and in 2007 this will be a central theme of its activities and displays, many of which are in the process of being updated. Our wish for 2007 is that in our community we will all make a sincere effort to get the job done well, and in harmony with one another. We need to be mutually supportive in all our efforts to ensure that the Drostdy Museum remains an icon of the collective history that all the people of Swellendam share.
Let’s make it a good one!
Opening of Drostdy Museum Slave Exhibition
On Reconciliation Day, 16th December 2006, the Drostdy held a special function to mark the opening of its new slave exhibition in one of the old barns above the residence. Much research both in the archives in Cape Town and here in Swellendam preceded this event. The labour force working for the Drostdy would have been accommodated in the barns at night.
L-R The Mayor Mr Jan Jansen, Minister Whitey Jacobs, Governing Body Chairman Rev Charles Flaendorp and Museum Manager Tizzie Mangiagalli
After a brief welcome by Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Ds Flaendorp, Museum Manager Tizzie Mangiagalli explained that the opening of the slave exhibition was part of the Museum’s broader re-development plan, which includes the refurbishment of Mayville and upgrading of the exhibitions in the Drostdy building itself. The Mayor, Mr Jan Jansen, introduced the guest of honour, the Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Mr Whitey Jacobs, after reminding the gathered guests of the cultural heritage that has been passed down to present day South Africans by the various groups of slaves that toiled here in the 18th and 19th centuries. He also paid tribute to the slaves for their part in the construction and beautification of the many historic buildings that still exist in Swellendam.
The Minister opened his address by paying tribute to the work done at Swellendam’s Drostdy, and by congratulating staff on their status as finalists in the Premier’s Excellence Awards. He went on to say that for a long time museums displayed only our colonial history, but that now they have a critical role to play in reflecting South Africa’s history in its fullness – in other words, reflecting the truth.
Mr Jacobs reminded us that in its day the Drostdy had served a magisterial district stretching all the way to the Eastern Cape. Names of towns, individuals and events in South Africa reflect that
multi-cultural and proud history.
Slave Exhibition
As far as limited finances are concerned, the Minister pointed out that his Department is served only the 13th slice of the provincial budget. It is up to the museums he said, to play such a critical role in tourism that they can justifiably lay claim to a more equitable share of funding. He added that if the country wants 6% growth in tourism, then government needs to look at who visits our museums – not only the overseas tourists, but also our own people, who in turn need to tell us what our museums are missing. In this way we will develop richer exhibits and ownership of the museums by the people. Mr Jacobs paid tribute to Professor Henry Bredekamp, historian and museum activist, for his role in bringing museums under the spotlight.
We need to capture the intimate details of our history, said the Minister, and one way to go about it is to encourage oral history and scrapbooking programmes, such as the one started in Caledon. (See the last issue of the Drostdy Muse News.) The Minister concluded by saying that when we look at the development of labour and the role of slavery in the Western Cape, then we recognise that we are part of that history.
Mr Kosie Sefoor and the Progress Christmas Band Choir
A colourful and festive spirit was added to the event by the music, singing and dancing provided by the Progress Christmas Band Choir, the New Apostolic Church choir, and by the delightful Xhosa dance group, who had decorated their faces most beautifully in traditional style.
Pay a visit to this worthwhile exhibition – it will give you an insight into how our forefathers and their labourers lived, right here in Swellendam.
Drostdy Museum
Inkqubela Phambili:
Ukwaziswa Kwenqubo Entsha “Kumsebenzi We Drostdy”
Yindalenye yenkqubela phambili yethala logcina masiko nolondolozo lwenkcubeko eyazisa ngokuphandle indisi zembali zomzi wokugcina nokulondoloza amasiko nezithethe ngokwahlukeneyo apha ekuhlaleni kunye nomphakathi nakwingingoi ngokubanzi wona waziswa ngomnyaka ka 2003.
Umhlaba we Drostdy nguwona wona umdala apha entshona koloni osagcinakeleyo undbangela kukwenzela into yokuba elowo nalowo akwazi ukufikelela nqu kwimbali yakhe.
Le ngcaciso idibene nophando oluphanda iziganeko kunye namasiko asamiyo okanye asafumanekayo asenegalelo nangoku kumphakathi wase-Swellendam.
Le ngcaciso iyakyqhuba ihambe nenkqubo entsha ezakusetnenziswa.
Tizzie Mangiagalli
(Umphathi Weziko)
Discovering a book collection of worth
If you venture into the conservation building of the Museum, you are likely to see Sue Whybrow bent in concentration over an archive table. She has come to the Museum to work on a contract basis in her capacity as a professional librarian. Her brief was to organise, catalogue and subject index 500 of the books in the Museum’s archival collection. It all came about when the Swellendam Heritage Association put out a call for volunteers to assist with some of the numerous challenges posed by a large museum with limited staff. Sue believes that this kind of work is best carried out by the consistent application of one dedicated and professional worker. Encouraged by Peter Rattray and Carol Podd, Sue agreed to take on the daunting task. It is a task that she performs with passionate interest.
The Museum is indeed fortunate to have the services of this highly qualified and experienced librarian. Sue qualified with a BA H Dip Lib cum laude from Wits University. She worked from 1963 to 1973 at the Johannesburg Public Library, to begin with under R F Kennedy, the well-known city librarian and Africana expert. She researched, indexed and proof-read material, at times ‘devilling’ for Kennedy in his own research and writing. Her own projects included work on Le Vaillant’s bird books, which also entailed research on the pictures and engravings of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Sue then worked at the Public Library as chief reference library cataloguer and at the time she left to start a family was chief indexer of the Index to SA Periodicals. It is clear that Sue’s work is the love of her life. ‘It’s wonderful to return to it,’ she says.
She commenced work in 2006 on 500 books as a pilot project. These books form part of a bequest from the Swellendam Public Library; some of them truly valuable to the researcher and of great interest. Her task included providing advice on storage and arrangement. Prior to Sue’s intervention the books had neither been accessioned nor arranged in any particular order.
This is a time-consuming task. There is a decision-making process for each book: Sue must determine the extent of the treatment each book merits, since some, the Victoriana for example, are of little intrinsic value. All the information is detailed on cards. Books requiring detailed treatment are provided with a description of contents, photographs or illustrations, author, publisher, date, pagination and addenda. Their subject matter is indexed. Sue also notes their condition – is there evidence of foxing, damage to text, end-papers or bindings, for example. One of her invaluable resources is Mendelssohn’s SA Bibliography, originally published in 1910. The work is South Africa’s bible on Africana books (a term coined only after 1923, by the way).
If you were privileged to view this collection, you would no doubt be transported, as I was, into the wonderful world of early explorers, artists, botanists, naturalists, missionaries, philosophers, and humorously outdated takes on life in South Africa. There is for example a volume in the collection entitled The Petticoat Commando! And the publishers are Mills and Boon, no less. But it is not a pulp romance; it is in fact an account of the underground espionage conducted on behalf of the Boers by a group of women during the Second Boer War. The author is Johanna Brandt, and the book was published in 1913.
Other treasures among the books handled so far include Chambers Library of Famous Literature, a full set of 19th century Chambers Encyclopaedias, early editions of Darwin’s works, a volume of Lady Duff Gordon’s Letters from the Cape, The Transvaal of Today (published in 1878!). There are the books with wonderful botanical illustrations, books with line drawings, books with beautifully marbled end-papers. Six Months at the Cape by R M Ballantyne and published in 1879 has the most intriguing illustrations. There is even a glossary of Afrikan(d)erisms in the English language, written by Rev Charles Pittman and published in 1913. And there are oddities such as The Jew at Home, an illustrated book published in 1892.
‘The collection has enormous educational value,’ says Sue. ‘It is also an invaluable resource for researchers. Neither of these functions can be effected unless it is known what is in the collection and how to access specific subjects and books.’ Sue’s objective in taking on this task is to transform a sterile collection into something more accessible for students, historians, museologists. She also intends making improvements to the storage of the material that would meet with the audit requirements of Western Cape Museum Services. An added bonus would be the opportunity to provide in-house training for young people who join the staff of the Museum. And this looks likely to happen since young Desteney Pietersen has arrived at the Museum as an intern.
Having completed the pilot project, Sue has agreed to continue work until the entire collection has been processed. Thank you Sue, for your dedication to the task, and the enormous knowledge that you bring to the work. Says Tizzie: ‘We welcome researchers who might wish to make use of the collection. They will however have to work under supervision.’
To have access to these wonderful books would be a researcher’s dream, but thanks to Sue Whybrow that dream can now become a reality.
It would be a tragic loss to the world if the printed page finally disappeared in the digital maelstrom. Gone would be the inimitable smell of new books, the art of book design, the feel of leather-bound volumes, and the pleasure of disappearing to a quiet corner to read.
Reviving the memory of Drostdy Ware
Recently museum staff received an inquiry from a correspondent in the United States relating to the origin of Drostdy Ware pottery. As most people know, the Drostdy system was operative throughout the Cape in colonial times, and there were Drostdys in Stellenbosch, Tulbach, Graaff Reinet and Grahamstown, to name some of the better-known establishments. It was Mr Norman Steele-Gray, an English immigrant to South Africa, who opened the Grahamstown Potteries in the middle of the 20th century.
The company had its own arts department, its designs were unique and it made small decorative ware for the general public, and pottery depicting South Africa’s fauna and flora for game parks and SA Breweries.
The pottery was so successful that it was not only exported to New Zealand, Australia, Britain and the United States, but in 1955 the company also opened a sales office on New York’s Broadway.
Exhibits were staged in New York and Boston, and for three years Drostdy Ware was awarded a Gold Medal at the Rand Easter Show.
In Grahamstown the pottery was sold from the Drostdy shop, which later developed into a quality gift shop. Sadly the pottery closed in the mid-1970s owing to the competition provided by imports from the east. Closed, but not gone forever, and those who still possess items of Drostdy Ware might like to email us with descriptions or even photos of their memorabilia.
Source: Mr Bruce Steele-Gray, 3 January 2007.
Well-known artist paints panels for the Drostdy Museum
Renowned Overberg and naïve artist Carol Mangiagalli has joined the ranks of volunteer workers. Carol has given of her valuable time to paint ten superb panels depicting the history of wheat and bread production in the area. The ten panels, brightly painted in typical Mangiagalli style, cover the topics of ploughing, sowing, harvesting, transporting the hay, threshing, milling and baking. The artist has faithfully captured the 19th century farming and harvesting equipment, including hand ploughs, scythes, threshing floors and hay wagons. The panels will be invaluable to Jomien’s educational programmes, depicting the history of wheat farming and bread baking in the Overberg. The art work will be displayed in the horse mill, so that it will not only enliven Jomien’s tales of the past, but also provide graphic information where all visitors to the Museum can enjoy it.
Carol’s art career started in textile design, and in 1976 she began making cloth pictures in the naïve style. Later she painted on glass, and then used poster paints on board with several layers of varnish to provide a rich glow to her work. She exhibits annually and her work hangs in many countries around the world.
Thank you Carol for these lovely panels, fine paintings in themselves!
End-of-year activities at the Drostdy
Vulindlèla play group
Before work for the year ended, Jomien Havenga with the assistance of volunteer Valerie van Heusden, put on a fine holiday programme for local school children for a full week in December. As usual there were educational and fun activities which kept the children happily occupied. Well done, Jomien and Valerie, and we know that in 2007 your efforts will be resumed with vigour!
Mr Samuel Hendriks farewell present in hand, with Mr Johnny Slingers and Tizzie Mangiagalli
After a formal end-of-year dinner, staff once again got together on the Thursday before Christmas for a casual braai after work. It was a pleasant affair, and manager Tizzie took the opportunity to present Samuel Hendriks with a gift from his colleagues to mark his retirement after 30 years’ service.
At a previous more formal farewell, staff gathered with members of the Board and Eureka Barnard, their Cape Town boss, to thank Ronel Vosloo and Samuel for their loyal service to the Museum. Ronel will be back in 2007 for a few hours each week on a contract basis.
In the next edition of the newsletter, meet Heinrich Bottom, our new financial administrator.
And now, at last, time for a smile …
Opmerkings deur besoekers:
Jong dogter terwyl sy na die houtskooloond wys:
‘Wat se ronde ding is die?’
‘n Maat antwoord:
‘Dit was seker die telefoonhokkie!’
Seun by perdemeul skree aan sy maats:
‘Haai ouens, kom kyk die Marry-go-round!’
Jong seun in kopersmid toe hy die geelkoper koffiekanne en bekers sien:
‘Nou kan ek sien dis ‘n regte museum, kyk al die goud!’
Engelsprekende besoeker by die kuiper:
‘This must be the Witblitz department!’
‘n Klein dogtertjie loop na die skaaplam en steek haar hand uit om aan die lam te vat. Ma se reaksie:
‘Los uit die bok, netnou byt hy jou!’
Pa sé: ‘Aag man, bokke byt nie!’
Apology
We apologize for the misleading article that appeared in our last issue in which the Swellendam Heritage Association was inadvertently overlooked in the article on the National Heritage Symposium. The error was inadvertent, and we apologize for any inconvenience that it might have caused. The SHA is to be congratulated on the fine manner in which they hosted the event. Well done, Swellendam Heritage Association!
Finally, here’s a thought that you might choose to take with you into 2007:
Ultimately we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace,
and to reflect it towards others.
Etty Hillesum (1914-1943)
May 2007 be a year of peace and fulfillment for you all.
Leslie Howard
Editor
Tel: 028 – 514 1138
Fax: 028 – 514 2675
E-mail:
Website:
AWARD:
BEST MUSEUM IN THE WESTERN CAPE 2004
FINALIST:
PREMIER’S SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006