27 Sand River Convention (17 January 1852) A2/A3
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27 Sand River Convention (17 January 1852) A2/A3 B2 C2/C3 D N 27 Convention 26 27 1 25 2 West wall (panel 31/31) 24 3 h. 2.3 × w. 2.82 m 4 23 Restored fractures on the vertical edges Sculptor of the clay maquette: Peter Kirchhoff 22 5 Stages of production 21 A1 W.H. Coetzer, pencil drawing, retained only in A2 (April–June 1937) 6 A2 Reproduction of A1 (June 1937) 20 A3 W.H. Coetzer, revised pencil drawing A1, h. 13.4 × w. 15.3 cm 7 (after September 1937) 19 Annotation: ‘Konvensies van Zand Rivier binne in ’n Tent’ (Conventions 8 18 of Sand River inside a tent) 17 9 B1 One-third-scale clay maquette, not extant but replicated in B2 (1942–43) 16 10 B2 One-third-scale plaster maquette, h. 79 × w. 87 × d. 9.5 cm (1942–43) 15 14 13 12 11 C1 Full-scale wooden armature, not extant (1943–45) C2 Full-scale clay relief, not extant but recorded in photograph; replicated 0 5 10 m in C3 (1943–45) C3 Full-scale plaster relief (1943–45), not extant but illustrated (Die Vader- land, 26.2.1945); copied in D (1948–49) D Marble as installed in the Monument (1949) Early records SVK minutes (4.9.1937) ― item 4u (see below, ‘Developing the design’) Panele (c. Dec 1934–36) ― item 13 ‘Die erlanging v.d. vryheid (a) die konwensies 1852 en 1854’ (The achievement of freedom (a) the conventions of 1852 and 1854) Wenke (c. 1934–36) ― item I. F.A. STEYTLER (a) ‘Ondertekening van die Sandrivier-Traktaat’ (Signing of the Sandriver Treaty) Moerdyk Layout (5.10.1936–15.1.1937) ― scene 23 on panel 30/31 ‘Konvensies 1852 [and] 1854’ (Conventions 1852 [and] 1854) Jansen Memorandum (19.1.1937) ― item 7.23 ‘The Conventions of 1852 and 1854’ Open Access. © 2020 Elizabeth Rankin and Rolf Michael Schneider, published by De Gruyter and African Minds. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110668797-032 582 27 Convention Figure 27.1: D. Convention. 1949. Marble, 2.3 × 2.82 m (courtesy of VTM; photo Russell Scott) Description 583 Description Nine men are gathered around a small table covered with a plain cloth in front of a tent: four Voor- trekkers and two British soldiers witness three dignitaries who attend to the convention, the central focus of the scene (fig. 27.1). These three are united in being clean-shaven and formally dressed with bow-tie, frock coat and long trousers. The balding dignitary, seated on a chair on the right of the table, one of the two British commissioners, signs the paper with a quill, while the two standing men look on intently. The tall second commissioner in a top hat stands behind the signatory’s chair, resting his hands on its back. The third dignitary, on the opposite side of the table, is Andries Pretorius, expectantly awaiting the conclusion of the formalities. His central position stresses his importance, as does the apex of the tent opening behind his head. Framing Pretorius are two Boers, one in support immediately behind him, with oddly depicted hands clasped behind his back, and another on his left, presented frontally with a muzzleloader like a formal guard. Both are bearded and wear Voortrekker dress and hats. Behind are two more Boers nearer the tent that fills the background – a young boy and an older bareheaded bald man with full beard, the latter carved in very low relief so that he appears to be in the distance. All look towards the table, reinforcing the importance of the act. Two officers on the far left stand in front of the tree which divides Convention from Return. Their distinctive garb copies the officer’s dress uniform of the Cape Mounted Rifles that served from 1827 to 1870 (fig. 27.12). The officers, the foreground one with his left hand on the hilt of his sword, wear a corded busby with bag and plume; a dragoon jacket with frogging, pointed cuffs and a pelisse over their left shoulders; a cross-belt; a barrelled sash; and fitted trousers buttoned at the ankle and strapped under the shoe. The careful depiction of the soldiers’ uniforms is an excellent example of the sculptors’ determination to endow their representations with historical veracity. The painstaking depiction of the folding stool, which rather unexpectedly appears in the foreground, provides Voortrekker detail. 584 27 Convention Figure 27.2: A2. W.H. Coetzer. Reproduction of first sketch for Convention. June 1937 (courtesy of ARCA PV94 1/75/5/1; photo the authors) Figure 27.3: A3. W.H. Coetzer. ‘Konvensies van Zand Rivier binne in ’n Tent’. After September 1937. Pencil, 13.4 × 15.3 cm. Revised first sketch (photo courtesy of Museum Africa, no. 66/2194L) Developing the design 585 Developing the design The reproduction (fig. 27.2) shows Coetzer’s drawing in its original state, before it was later partly revised (fig. 27.3). The reproduction is dominated by a large rectangular table covered with a plain cloth, placed just right of centre and parallel to the picture plane, with six men grouped behind it. Two figures are the focus, one seated at the table writing and, the other, a tall man on the left, who bends over him observantly, his left hand on the writer’s chair and the other on the table. They are both concerned with the paper that is being signed near the top, framed by an inkpot and book on the table. Coetzer includes other everyday details, such as the writer’s foot resting on the table spar and a hat propped up against a table leg, visible beneath the short table cloth. There is also a top hat on a riempie chair in the foreground, partly cut off by the frame. The removed hats and the bare heads of all the participants may suggest the solemnity of the occasion. The four bystanders who watch the formal act probably represent the two groups involved. The two on the far right are definitely trekkers, recognisable by their buttoned-up flap trousers, and the beard and neckerchief of the one next to the writer. The dress of the two clean-shaven men in suits on the left is not distinc- tive, but they are presumably British. It is the only indoor event depicted by Coetzer in the sketches, indicated by a cottage pane window and, next to it, a document in a rustic frame hanging on the wall at a slant. At the Historiese Komitee meeting on 4 September 1937 the following alterations were requested: Signing of the contract. The man is signing too high on the document; the statute book of Van der Linde must also be shown here; study an authentic table cloth in the Africana museum; the signing took place in a tent in the veld; show many Boers including likenesses of the following A.W. and M.W. Pretorius, Paul Kruger, Schutte and Visagie (portraits can be obtained from Prof. Engelbrecht).1324 Coetzer adjusted his drawing in response to the critique, and added modelling, hatching and tone which are further accentuated by new bold outlines (fig. 27.3). He kept the figure composition unchanged but erased the window and the picture frame (although both are still faintly visible) to set the scene inside a tent with supporting tent pole and a view through the open canvas to distant mountains. A longer fringed cloth on the table eliminates the view of men’s legs and feet beneath it, and the Boer hat leaning against the table leg has disappeared. The writer’s head is given more prominence, while his arms are further foreshortened so that he signs the paper at the bottom. However, Coetzer did not follow up the Historiese Komitee stipulation to introduce more Boers and the portrait features of important Voortrekkers, although he adjusted the dress of the men, and endowed one of the two British figures on the left with a moustache. The trekkers wear traditional short jackets with fewer buttons than the British ones. The man standing next to the signatory on the right is difficult to identify: while his short belted jacket has many buttons, more like the British ones, the form of his beard is in accord with a trekker. The other men on the right definitely seem to be Boers, and the tall one who leans over the table is most likely Pretorius. Perhaps the top hat that rests on the chair next to him was meant to identify him, as he wears it in Arrival, Blood River and Mpande, although ultimately he would not have a hat in Convention. When Kirchhoff made the small clay maquette (fig. 27.4) to create a blueprint for the full-scale relief, he redesigned the figures in Coetzer’s pencil drawings substantially, with only Pretorius’ position maintained. This is a sole example of one of the sculptors apparently having access to Coetzer’s revised drawing rather than the initial design, as Kirchhoff shows the event taking place in front of a tent, not inside a room, the modification required by the Historiese Komitee. Or perhaps Kirchhoff adopted the tent, together with stool and tree, from another Coetzer drawing, 1324 ‘Ondertekening van traktate. Die man teken te hoog op die dokument; die wetboek van v.d. Linde moet ook hier gewys word; bestudeer ’n behoorlike tafelkleedjie in die Africana museum; die ondertekening vind plaas in ’n tent in die veld; wys baie boere w.o.