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Thomas Baines Paintings the Reved. C H Hahn, Addressing the Damara

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Thomas Baines Paintings the Reved. C H Hahn, Addressing the Damara THOMAS BAINES EXPORT PERMIT APPLICATION Thomas Baines paintings The Reved. C H Hahn, addressing the Damara Commando mustered at Dabbie Choup, under C J Andersson and F Green, to attach the Namaqua Hottentots under Jan Jonker, Monday June 6th, 1864. Namibian Baines Searching for Hippopotami on an island in the Zambezi about two miles above the Falls, young palms before the first leaves are shed – and brilliant Meteor (Brilliant Meteor on the Zambezi River, 1864) Zimbabwe Baines General In the opening paragraph to their book, The life and work of Thomas Baines, Jane Carruthers and Marion Arnold state: The primary source material of nineteenth-century southern Africa is rich and varied and one of its most important legacies is that of John Thomas Baines, the artist and explorer. His value is not to South Africa alone for he travelled throughout the subcontinent in what are now Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe and also visited Australia and the East Indies. (pg.10) Baines was born in England in 1820 and travelled to Cape Town in search of work in November 1842. In the second paragraph in their book, Carruthers and Arnold provide an outline of his whereabouts as artist traveller: he was in South Africa to September 1853 (10 years) before leaving for England for 2 years when he joined the Royal Geographic Society (RGS) expedition to Australia until the end of 1857. He returned to England for a period before he was selected to join the Livingstone expedition to the Zambezi from 1858 to 1859 (6 years). He returned to the Cape in 1860 (1 year). From 1861 to 1864 he travelled in Namibia and Botswana; between 1865 to the end of 1868 he was in England. From 1868 to 1872 he explored gold deposits in Zimbabwe (11 years). From 1873 until his death in May 1875 he was in Natal. (2+ years). It is interesting to note that of the time Baines is presumed to be associated with South Africa (1842 – 1875), he spent more than half of this time elsewhere in pursuit of his ambition to be recognised as an explorer. Baines is the quintessential English explorer- artist, typical of a group of British expatriates in the Victorian age, such as Richard Burton, Augustus Earle, and George Chinnery whose careers were lived outside their native lands on the frontiers of the fast expanding British imperial world. Baines meet the traveller-artist, George French Angas, to whom he ascribes his awakening interest to explore the interior of Africa, in 1846 - 1847. Baines attempted to fulfil this ambition a number of times in the late 1840s and early 1850s prior to his return to England in 1853, when he worked for the Royal Geographic Society in London and was fortunate to be offered a position on the RGS sponsored Augustus Gregory expedition to northern Australia. As a result of his achievements as artist, cartographer, botanist, zoologist and ethnographer, he determined to seek a career as a professional explorer. He was granted a position of the government- and RGS-sponsored exploration of the Zambezi River in 1858 before his aspirations as an explorer suffered a severe setback as a result of a conflict with the ‘saint explorer’ of the Victorian era, David Livingstone. However this did not prevent Baines from pursuing his ambition in other ways and he was to spend the latter part of his life in pursuit of this goal in Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Baines maintained close contact with the scientific societies and institutions in London in particular the RGS, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, The Royal Zoological Society, the Linnean Society, the British Association and the Ethnography Society and as a consequence large collections of his work are held in London. He perceived himself to be an amateur scientist expanding the scientific knowledge on behalf of the imperial aspirations of Britain. It is in this context that the two Baines paintings must be considered. The paintings were created by Baines while he resided in Namibia in 1863/64 his allegiance displayed so obviously in the Baines painting of the commando at Davitjob with a flag of his design so very reminiscent of the Union Jack flag. Furthermore, it is commonly recognized that of all Baines’ expeditions, his journey Chapman through Namibia and Botswana to the Victoria Falls was his most productive scientifically and artistically. Baines perceived himself as an explorer in the service of science and reported his findings with care and aplomb to his Victorian audience back home. In this respect Baines not only produced artworks intimately connected to South Africa but also to Australia, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The Commando mustered at Davitjob, Namibia In the absence of photographs, Thomas Baines’ sketches and paintings have provided an invaluable record of the colonial frontier as it expanded into the hinterland of southern Africa. This painting is no exception: it depicts a poignant moment at the point of conflict and competition for resources as missionaries and traders expanded their areas of influence in Namibia. The missionary Carl Hugo Hahn takes centre stage alongside significant traders Charles John (Carl Johann) Andersson and Frederick Thomas Green with Chief Kamaherero (Maharero), one of the most important Namibian leaders of the 19th Century. These were key figures in the history of Namibia. In addition, the painting records the development of colonial organizations such as the short-lived ‘Otjimbingwe British Volunteer Artillery’, which united under the symbolic banner of its own flag (with an interesting oblique reference to the rivalry for Africa between European nations). Baines has placed Damara Herero warriors prominently in the foreground of the painting, many with red ochre hair, various items of weaponry and traditional attire and others in western dress with wide brimmed hats signifying the process of transition and change experienced by African societies. A Herero woman wearing the unique ekori headdress with the mantle of tubular iron beads draped down her back is also depicted in the foreground. His attention to detail makes this a fascinating painting to inspect. This fascinating painting captures an interesting moment in the 1860s conflict between the Namaqua (/Hoa/araman Oorlams Afrikaners) and the Damara (Herero) over control of cattle, grazing land and trade. The conflict between the feuding groups is referred to variously as the Nama-Herero, Oorlams-Herero, Nama-Ovaherero and sometimes simply as ‘Andersson’s’ War. Although the caption of the picture refers to the warriors as being "Damara", they were actually OvaHerero. The conflict was complicated by the fact that the /Hoa/araman (Namaqua) had treated the OvaHerero as vassal subjects from who they extracted tribute, but this relationship altered when the OvaHerero moved to the vicinity of Otjimbingwe under the protection of the resident traders and missionaries. A battle between the groups had occurred on 15 June 1863 in which the Namaqua Chief Christian Afrikaner was killed following his unsuccessful attack on the settlement. However, tension in the area remained high to the extent that normal trading and hunting activities had been brought to a standstill resulting in financial and economic losses for the hunter traders. Following this occasion, the Otjimbingwe Volunteer Artillery led by their Commander-in-Chief, Andersson attacked and defeated the Namaqua, led by Christian’s son Jan Jonker, near Windhoek on the 22 June 1864 bringing to an end their domination of the region. Hahn was to broker a peaceful agreement between Kamaherero and Jonker in 1870. Collections There is a sketch of this scene held in the Archives in Pretoria and the sketch was reproduced in JPR Wallis’ biography of the artist. In addition, Museum Africa holds an oil painting entitled the ‘Otjimbengue Volunteer Artillery’ interestingly also showing the flag designed by Baines as well as ‘A Damara family group’ (B328 and B248 Kennedy catalogue respectively) in addition to a pencil sketches, watercolours and oils referenced B249 – B422 including bird studies from B332. Meteor on the Zambezi, Zimbabwe This cosmically lit nocturne on the Zambezi just above the Victoria Falls is one of a great suite of paintings developed by Baines from sketches made during his visit to the area in July and August 1862. Baines had embarked on the Chapman expedition with a view to producing a great series of paintings of the geological phenomenon, only seen at the time by half a dozen Europeans before him, and never depicted before the Victorian world. The scene sees Baines attending to both his interest in botany and astronomy and is probably based on an earlier astronomical events witnessed earlier in November 1861 and January 1862, both described in his book Explorations in South-West Africa. This landscape painting depicts a scene in present-day Zimbabwe. Collections Museum Africa holds numerous paintings pertaining to the Victoria Falls and the Zambezi Valley (B287 – B316) including iconic oil painting images of Falls (B289, B294, B296, B297 and B298). The William Fehr collection has a similar watercolour; Baines produced a lantern slide with the same image held in a private collection. An engraving based on the image appears in Baines’ book The Gold Regions of Southern Africa and also in J Chapman’s book Travels in the interior of South Africa. A Victoria Falls painting is also held by the First National Bank Group and a number in private collections in South Africa. Baines legacy Baines certainly left a fabulous visual legacy for South Africa: the country is replete with Baines paintings. For example, there are 439 Baines artworks held by Museum Africa of which 127 are oil paintings of which 18 are from the same period as the two under discussion. This does not include the numerous watercolours and pencil sketches that also relate to this period including the 90 bird studies Baines completed for Charles Andersson.
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