Product Details
** 'JAMESON AT DOORNKOP 1886', A CONTEMPORARY REPRODUCTION OIL ON CANVAS,
an unsigned painting showing the Battle of the Jameson Raid on 2nd January 1886, set in a wooden frame with 'JAMESON AT DOORNKOP 1886 - R. CATON WOODVILLE', measuring approx. 68 1/2in. x 42 3/4in.
Other Notes: The vendor has kindly provided us with the following information:
This painting is done by an unknown artist who has repainted the iconic and well known JAMESON RAID painting by Carlton Woodville.
The story of Jameson Raid begins with the plans of Cecil Rhodes to link all the states of Southern Africa into a Federation within the British Empire.
The strongest opposition to this would come from President Kruger- who wanted to preserve the independence of the Republic.
Jameson , was the youngest of ten brothers, born in Edinburgh in 1853. Qualified as a surgeon, and set up in South Africa in a practice in the early days of the Kimberley diamond rush.
There he met, and completely fell under the spell of, Cecil Rhodes.
He won a war against the Matabele in 1893 , and trouble was building with the Boers.
To the Raid itself:
The Uitlanders( foreign South Africans) to whose aid Jameson was supposed to be riding were a mixed bunch .When they formed a Reform committee to deal with Kruger at the time a of the raid, it consisted 23 Englishmen, 16 south Africans and 20 others from different countries.
These were fortune seekers who had flocked to the Transvaal when the gold reef had been struck.
Jameson was forbidden to move on the raid by Joburg and Cape Town.
Jameson crossed into the Transvaal 29 dec 1895, first encounters were at Pitsani , Makeking and Doornpoort, they failed to storm Krugersdorp and as per the painting it relates the surrender was at Battle of Doornkop.
Not a single Boer was killed. Jameson and his raiders raised the white flag at 9am on the 2nd Jan 1896. 17 were killed , 55 wounded and 35 lost on the way. The raiders and 250 prisoners were jailed in Pretoria after the failed raid.
The British illustrated newspapers give Jameson's last stand a heroic touch which did not happen in real life.
Relations between Great Britain and the Transvaal deteriorated which led to the start of the Boer War in 1899.
The owner of the painting, a widow, inherited this from her husband who purchased the artwork at an auction in Johannesburg many years ago and it has hung in their dining room in Cape Town for many years.
** Please note this item is subject to 20% VAT on the hammer price.
Estimate £1,000-1,500