6 Inauguration of Retief as governor (6 and 11 June 1837) A2/A3 B2 C2 D N 6 Inauguration 26 27 1 25 2 East wall, central image (panel 8/31) 24 3 h. 2.3 × w. 2.82 m (c. 10 cm overlap with panel 7) 4 23 Restored chipped and uneven vertical edges between Vegkop and Kapain Sculptor of the clay model: Hennie Potgieter 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. 15.2 cm 7 (after September 1937) 19 Annotations: ‘Erasmus Smit. Maritz / Insweering van Retief’ 8 18 (Swearing in of Retief) 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. 77 × w. 76 × d. 8.5 cm (1942–43) 15 14 13 12 11 C1* Full-scale wooden armature, not extant (1943–46) C2* Full-scale clay relief, not extant but recorded in photograph; replicated 0 5 10 m in C3 (1943–46) C3* Full-scale plaster relief (1943–46), not extant but right part of the scene illustrated (Die Vaderland, 26.2.1945); copied in D (1948–49) *were developed in two halves, the right half before 1945, the left half later D Marble relief as installed in Monument (1949) Early records SVK minutes (4.9.1937) ― item 4g (see below, ‘Developing the design’) Voorstelle (5.12.1934?) ― item 8 ‘Groot Trek te Winburg. Retief se inswering en wetgewing (insonderheid indien moontlik om dit te laat uitkom: afgekondigde verhouding tot inboorlinge, wet teen grasbrand en vir wil[de]- beskerming) Laertoneel (miskien soos in “Voortrekkerrolprent” gesien.) Voortrekkervlag, voormanne rondom tafel gegroepeer, ens.’ (Great Trek at Winburg. Retief’s inauguration and law-giving [especially, if possible to bring it to light: proclaimed relationship with natives, law against veld fires and for game protection.] Scene in laager [perhaps as seen in the Voortrekker film.] Voortrekker flag, leaders grouped around table, etc.) Panele (c. 1934–36) ― item 2 ‘Inswering van Piet Retief. Boere was ordeliwende mense. Erasmus Smit’ (Inauguration of Piet Retief. Boers were law-abiding people. Erasmus Smit) Wenke (c. 1934–36) ― item II. Dr. L. Steenkamp, mnre. A.J. du Plessis en M. Basson, B. ‘KONSTITUSIONEEL’ (CON- STITUTIONAL), 1. ‘Inauguration van Piet Retief, Gert Marits en ander amptenare deur Erasmus Smit op 6 Junie, 1837’ (Swearing in of Piet Retief, Gert Maritz and other officials by Erasmus Smit on 6 June 1837) Moerdyk Layout (5.10.1936–15.1.1937) ― scene 7 on panels 10–11/31 ‘Winburg Inswering Retief’ (Winberg Inaugura- tion Retief) Jansen Memorandum (19.1.1937) ― item 7.7 ‘The Voortrekkers at Winburg. Taking of oath by Piet Retief’ 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/10.1515/9783110668797-011 104 6 Inauguration Figure 6.1: D. Inauguration. 1949. Marble, 2.3 × 2.82 m (courtesy of VTM; photo Russell Scott) Description 105 Description Seven Voortrekker adults and a baby witness the swearing-in ceremony for Piet Retief (fig. 6.1). Shown in strict profile and with a full beard, Retief kneels on one knee next to a cloth-covered table. It supports a large volume on which Retief’s left hand rests: he is swearing on the Bible. His other arm is raised and his hand with two fingers extended is reminiscent of a religious blessing. Gerrit Maritz, the portly man who stands in profile opposite him, has his right hand on a smaller book. The two men look at each other intently: they form the focal point of the composition. Four formally dressed men in frontal view stand behind them, their eyes fixed on the cere- mony. Two of them have cravats and one a bowtie, but the man to the left of the table wears a clerical collar, though obscured by folds, which identifies him as the Reverend Erasmus Smit. The figure in the middle wears a short Voortrekker jacket, and is, apart from Retief, the only man with a beard, Voortrekker style around his chin. His folded arms intersect with the raised arm of Retief and form a cross. The heads of the three figures in the centre are at the same level, but those of the outer figures are slightly lower, suggesting a semi-circle, which enfolds the two main characters, Retief and Maritz. The ceremonial event is ‘men’s business’ but women are present as witnesses, diminutive com- pared to the men, and on the outer edges of the central group. The one on the left is a mature woman in a formal dress with three-quarter-length sleeves, and has a narrow shawl fastened with a brooch, a bracelet, and a bonnet tied under her chin. The other wears a Voortrekker kappie and is shown in profile, seated on a low stool hidden by her skirt, her head below Retief’s although he is kneeling. She holds a well-wrapped baby on her lap with only the face visible. The three overlapping wagons in the background are stepped in height to suggest recession. Although parallel to the picture plane, they also show their back views, with their flaps neatly rolled or covering the opening. They are aligned exactly on the right margin, but the left-hand one overlaps slightly into the preceding panel of Vegkop. 106 6 Inauguration Figure 6.2: A2. W.H. Coetzer. Reproduction of the first sketch for Figure 6.3: A3. W.H. Coetzer. ‘Insweering van Retief Winburg’. After Inauguration. June 1937 (courtesy of ARCA PV94 1/75/5/1; September 1937. Pencil, 13.4 × 15.2 cm. Revised first sketch photo the authors) (photo courtesy of Museum Africa, no. 66/2194B) Figure 6.4: W.H. Coetzer. ‘Retief sworn in as governor of the Voortrekkers’ (Nathan 1937, fig. opp. p.164) Developing the design 107 Developing the design We have two almost identical Coetzer sketches, the reproduction (fig. 6.2) of the first pencil drawing and its revised version (fig. 6.3). In this case it appears that Coetzer used the original drawing and merely modelled the figures in light and shade. Points at regular intervals along the margins appear to be for squaring up the sketch for enlargement. Here we have a rare case of a direct prec- edent for Coetzer’s designs. The sketches relate very closely to an almost unknown Coetzer, a finer and more detailed drawing, possibly in ink, which was published by Manfred Nathan in 1937 in a portrait format suited to his book (fig. 6.4).188 We have no date for the drawing but, given the cus- tomary delays in publishing, even if it was produced especially for the book it is likely that it was made well before the SVK request for designs for the frieze in mid-1937. While this drawing and the other reproductions in Nathan’s book emphasise Coetzer’s intense personal interest in Voortrekker history, it might be speculated that, knowing of the major project for the Monument, he had exper- imented with appropriate subjects before any official commission was offered. In Coetzer’s sketches for the Monument, Retief, kneeling in front of the table, and Maritz, standing behind it, are the most prominent figures, arranged as they are in the earlier drawing in Nathan. They face each other, while Retief, his left hand placed on the open Bible, is sworn into his new offices. Maritz too places his hand on a book, closed in this case. In the Historiese Komitee meeting on 4.9.1937 the following change was required: Inauguration of Retief. Show the statute book of Van der Linde [sic].189 The committee’s request to ‘show’ the legal handbook by Van der Linden, which we discuss below, is revealing, as it highlights the limited understanding of sculpture among its members. The SVK probably wanted Van der Linden included as a way of identifying the civic aspect of the occasion, but did not recognise the difficulty of portraying the book in a way that makes it recognisable to the uninformed viewer. Understandably Coetzer paid little attention to the requirement to include another or a different book in his sketch, and made few changes overall. Again Coetzer provided the basic ingredients of the composition for the frieze. The swearing- in ceremony is already set up showing Retief and Maritz, with Smit, who has a moustache but no sideburns, standing behind Maritz. Three hats resting on a riempie stool in the left foreground, as opposed to only one in the drawing in Nathan, emphasise that the men have removed them for this important occasion. The ceremony is witnessed by men, women and children some distance behind them. A mother with a baby is placed rather unexpectedly in the gap between Retief and Maritz, part of the far group but more prominent than in the Nathan drawing. Further away four irregularly positioned wagons refer to the combined laagers in the vicinity of today’s Winburg, although only the vertical drawing in Nathan is filled with thorn trees against the sky. The design in the small plaster maquette (fig. 6.5) changed the drawing substantially and is close to the composition in marble. In the main group, the figure of Maritz on the left steps forward and faces Retief, who kneels on one knee, not two. Instead of the distracting views of distant bystanders, the Reverend Erasmus Smit, recognisable by his plain clerical collar, takes up a position to fill the gap between Maritz and Retief, together with another male figure, keeping the viewer’s attention in the foreground.