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Wooden Prestige
Vessel
ex - Barbara Tyrrell
Collection
Private Collection
In
1951, the Durban Ski-boat Commando journeyed down the Pongola River
(Maputo River). On the 26th of November, twenty people
embarked, near the Swazi border in the Lebombo Mountains at
Otobotini.
Embarking at
Otobotini
Their intent was to descend 200 miles downstream to Lourenço Marques (Maputo) - Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique). Though armed, this
was more of a fishing trip than hunting safari. It was reported that
the adventure was the first of it’s kind in South Africa.
Barbara Tyrrell -
Author of Tribal Peoples of South Africa - Suspicion is my Name and
African Heritage
Included
in the group were Barbara Tyrrell (artist) and Adrian Jurgens (Pete), a
film producer. Pete and his good friend Tom Bulpin (WW2 pilot cameraman
and author) had been employed by Springbok Films Ltd, owned by British
cinema pioneer Albert O’Conner, to film the journey for American
television.
Adrian Jurgens -
Barbara Tyrrell - Janice Smith
George
Moore, celebrated broadcaster and commentator of the day, also embarked
on the journey. Well known journalist Carel Birkby, organized and led
the expedition, which resulted in a book he later authored. Janice Smith
from England, was the film companies continuity girl. Barbara Tyrrell,
in her first stages of pregnancy, travelled downstream by road, carrying
supplies for night camps.
 
Tribal Peoples of
Southern Africa pages 146 and 148
Along
this journey Barbara drew tribal people and their beaded dress.
 
Tribal Peoples of Southern Africa - Page 147 Tribal Peoples of Southern Africa - Page 149
In 1968
Barbara Tyrrell published Tribal Peoples of Southern Africa. The
chapter, Tsonga of Tongaland - pgs 146-150, were the result of the 1951
Pongola river adventure. The caption for page 147 reads;
Tsonga heads show a girl lengthening her hair, a girl with face marked
to indicate she is on a journey, and a girl with typical beaded hair.
The boy's hair fashioned to resemble horns. The girl on a journey wears
medicinal necklaces and she was returning home from a visit to a
witch-doctor.
The caption for page 149
reads; A Tsonga girl
plays her instrument or girlhood, the makwelane and she is clad
in typical dress. The witch-doctor poses in full regalia and an ochred
wig. His everyday coiffure, under the wig, is a fully beaded head,
similar to that of a woman. Hippopotami dwell in the Pongolo river near
his home.
Tired but
triumphant - departing at Lourenco Marques / December 4th 1951
Barbara
recounts with a glimmer, the story that at a well known and popular land river crossing, her husband Pete had
to race another ski boat to
shore where the wooden vessel was being offered at a sort of market. After a
heated debate with another member of the party, Pete managed to acquire it for
her.
 
Private Collection
Two
meticulously and precise carved wooden lips hold the upper and lower
sections firmly in place. The fine line
travels along the entire length of all sides of both portions of the
carving, regardless of and ever
changing form.
Private Collection
The
lidded container length is 90 cms, or 3
feet long. Four legs keep it upraised from the ground.
Private Collection
Half moon and star
decorations were included, confirming contact with Islam and the Arab
coastal trade.
Henri Junod - Life of a
South African Tribe
In Life
of a South African Tribe, Henri Junod identifies those living
upstream from Lorurenco Marques on the Pongola river as the Konde, Mapoute
and Tembe clans of the Ronga
subgroup of the Thonga tribe, or “Tsonga” as we know them today.
Peter Jurgens purchased the vessel in Tembe-land from a Ronga of the
Tsonga tribe.
Muhlati
Master Carver of
South East Africa
Private Collection
- Muhlati
It is possible that the
Barbara Tyrrell prestige vessel is the work of famed artist Muhlati. In
1903, a man named Watson collected the vessel above in the same vicinity as
the Jurgens-Tyrrell work. This is by the hand of Muhlati, who was the
most famous Ronga-Tsonga carver in South East Africa during the first
half of the 20th century.
In this particular
sculpture, Muhlati carved a Tsonga elder holding what we would today
identify as a Chopi cup. The figure rests upon a Zulu styled neck
rest used as a stool. Muhlati effectively drew from three regional
cultures in the composition of another fascinating object.
In 1927 Junod
wrote;
'The finest specimen of Native art that I ever saw is the carving of
a huge panther about to devour a human being, the work of Muhlati, a
sculptor living in the neighbourhood of Lourenço Marques. This
artist, who was very proud of his work, and asked a tolerably high
price for it, claimed to be able to carve anything and everything:
birds, four-footed beasts, or men. He was famous throughout the land
for his talent.
Muhlati never
duplicated or mass produced objects. Each sculpture was unique, or a
humorous twist to another. One other wooden container by the same
hand as the Jurgens-Tyrrell example is known. It is a carved
crocodile in storage at Pietermaritzburg's Voortrekker Museum. It is
also large, of curved form and closes precisely with a tight fit. We
feel that any carver other than Muhlati who had mastered the two
wonders, would have replicated them. That said, our guess is that
Muhlati was alive and well in 1951 and that Pete Jurgens met
him on the Pongola river. If the Jurgens-Tyrrell container is not
one of Muhlati's “four footed beasts”, then it was made by and
equally gifted artist.
Barbara
Tyrrell at 96 - Mothers Day 2008
Click either image to view
clippings from Barbara's Scrap Book. Once open, be sure to zoom in.
Private Collection
We hope you have enjoyed
viewing these two objects and learning more about Barbara Tyrrell, a
legend walking through our time.
Barbara Tyrrell was born in Durban, Natal, in 1912. She grew up in
Zululand in an environment where Zulu tradition flourished. At a young
age, she became fascinated by the dress and customs of the Zulu. She
spoke their language and was present at many traditional ceremonies of
the Zulu people.
A natural bent towards art led to Art School and a BA in Fine Arts at
the University of Natal. After a variety of different jobs, her love of
adventure and her interest in the African peoples inspired her to
explore and record their traditions, especially as related to dress.
Travelling in a motorized caravan she pursued this dream, recording in
line, colour and superb detail, the tribal dress, the beadwork, in
relation to the customs and traditions of the widely diverse ethnic
groups of southern Africa. The importance of collecting this vital
evidence of a vanishing way of life and its deeper spiritual meaning
resulted in the publication of her unique book Tribal Peoples of Southern
Africa. She was further recognized when she received a PhD ‘honoris
causa’ from the University of Natal.
As one of South Africa’s foremost collectors of rare books and
indigenous art, Killie Campbell recognized the historical importance of
Barbara Tyrrell’s work. She encouraged and backed the artist, acquiring
several hundred of the original watercolor studies. These are now
permanently housed at the Killie Campbell Africana Library, Durban,
Natal. Barbara Tyrrell’s work is represented in various museums in
southern Africa as well as in collections worldwide. In 2010 she
celebrated her ninety-eight birthday!
Barbara is the widow of film producer ‘Pete’ Jurgens, and during their
life together they shared many journeys. She is the author of several
other important books including Suspicion is My Name and illustrated African
Heritage, written by her late son Peter Jurgens.
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Follow these
links leading to books authored by Barbara Tyrrell ...
Native Life in South Africa
Tribal Peoples of Southern Africa
Suspicion is My Name
Barbara Tyrrell - Her African Quest
Follow this
link to visit our Barbara Tyrrell Centenary birthday party page:
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