Our New Logo
We are proud to unveil our new logo consummately designed and beautifully illustrated by Belinda Ann Burchell. Simonstown-born and bred, Belinda is a professional illustrator / artist and surface designer who currently resides at De Kelders. Her bountiful choice of indigenous flora and fynbos are a celebration of the Cape of Good Hope’s unique and cornucopian globally designated Floral Kingdom and aptly represents the VOC Foundation’s devotion to appraising and conserving our precious VOC heritage.
The flowers that she has specially garnered and artistically portrayed are:
Protea, Kanniedood, Blushing Bride, Arum Lily, Disa, Buchu leaves and bits of filigree for design purposes. Note: these are not strict botanical studies but stylised versions of these flowers/plants. Plant details featured below are mainly sourced from SANBI’s website: http://pza.sanbi.org/
Buchu
Agathosma crenulata (L.) Pillans Family: Rutaceae
Common names: buchu, long-leaf buchu (Eng.); boegoe, langblaar boegoe, regteboegoe, anysboegoe (Afr.); buchu (Khoi); ibuchu (Xhosa)
Agathosma derived from the Greek meaning agathos, pleasant and osme, smell. Agathosma crenulata and A. betulina (see below) belong to the Rutaceae, commonly known as the citrus family. There are 150 species in the genus Agathosma and they are mainly found in the Western Cape. Barosma is an old name for Agathosma. Buchu is part of the cultural heritage of the Khoe and Bushmen who used the dried and powered leaves mixed with sheep fat to anoint bodies. Leaves were also chewed to relieve stomach complaints. Buchu leaves steeped in vinegar, boegoeasyn or brandy, boegoebrandewyn, were an essential part of the medicine chest of the early Cape colonist. They used it for a variety of ailments to treat stomach complaints, worms, indigestion, kidney and bladder ailments. Buchu vinegar was also used to wash and clean wounds. For relaxing in the bath, tie a bunch of buchu leaves in some old pantyhose and drop it under a hot tap as you fill your bath. It helps to ease backache and rheumatism.
Kanniedood
Gonialoe variegata (L.) Boatwr. & J.C.Manning (=Aloe variegata L.) Family: Asphodelaceae
Common names: partridge breast aloe (Eng.); kanniedood, bontalwyn (Afr.)
Gonialoe variegata 1st found by Simon Van Der Stel’s expedition to Namaqualand (16 October 1685) in vicinity of Copperberg (Springbok District of the Northern Cape). 1st illustration made by Claudius in Van Der Stel’s Journal but never published. 1st published figure of A. variegata was in Père Tachard’s Second voyage de Siam (1689 Paris edition) & also 1st published of any South African aloe (Reynolds 1950). One of species grown in the VOC’s garden in Cape Town (1695). It was and probably still is the most popular aloe grown in the temperate climates of Europe and the UK, especially in greenhouses, on suburban windowsills and in the dusty windows of pubs (Smith & Van Wyk 2008). The Kanniedood is also the traditional symbol of South Africa’s indigenous Griqua people.
Blushing Bride
Serruria florida (Thunb.) Salisb. ex Knight Family: Proteaceae
Common names: blushing bride, pride of Franschhoek (Eng.); skaamblom, trots van Franschhoek (Afr.)
Serruria florida naturally occurs on the Franschhoek side of the Hottentots-Holland Nature Reserve. It grows on mountain slopes in soils derived from granite, which is found below the sandstone soils typical of the Table Mountain Group. The genus Serruria comprises 55 species, including the beautiful species Serruria rosea and Serruria aemula. Serruria florida was 1st collected (1773) by Swedish botanist Carl Thunberg. Recorded and described but not again seen or collected for another 110 years. Professor MacOwan found the Franschhoek population which was then cultivated at Kirstenbosch and later presented to royalty in England. The genus was named after J. Serrurier, a professor of botany at the University of Utrecht (early 18th century). Species name florida refers to the Latin meaning free-flowering or producing abundant flowers. Its common name, Blushing Bride, was derived from folklore. One version states that a young man would court a maiden, presenting her with a flower. The deeper the shade of pink, the more imminent the proposal, causing the maiden to blush. Another follows similar lines, stating it was custom for a young gentleman to wear a flower in his lapel when he was about to propose. The deeper the pink of the flower the more ardent his affection for the maiden and again the result would be a blushing maiden or bride to be. Other origins suggest that the flower became a popular bridal posy or that the flower itself resembled a bridal gown.
Disa
Disa uniflora Bergius Family: Orchidaceae – occasionally referred to by its old name Disa grandiflora
Common names: pride of Table Mountain, red disa, rooi disa (Afrikaans)
This famous red orchid, emblem of the Western Cape, is strictly protected. Its range is restricted to the sandstone mountains of the South-Western Cape Serrurian Cape, west Hermanus to Table Mountain and northwards into the Cederberg Mountains. It is common on Table Mountain, and the Back Table, but is rarely seen further south on the Cape Peninsula. The Mountain Club of South Africa, the Western Province Rugby Team and the Western Province sports use the image of this species on their badges and logos. It has been the Mountain Club’s logo since its founding in 1891. The flowers are also depicted on the obverse side of the Pro Merito Medal (1975).
Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool and Rev. Frank Chikane awarded posthumously (18 December 2005), in a ceremony at Genadendal (3rd oldest church in the Cape, consecrated January 1800), the Order of the Disa to 11 male and female slaves representing the thousands of men, women and children held in bondage during 170 years of Cape slavery. The individuals short-listed by the Provincial Honours Committee included:
· Adam Kok I (1710-1795) manumitted slave and founding father of the Griqua people
· Anton Jonas slave whose grandson was one of the 1st teachers to graduate from the training college at Genadendal
· Hermanus Matroos alias Ngxukumeshe, escaped slave who found sanctuary and a new identity among the amaXhosa.
· Frederik Opperman (1790-1893), former artisan slave who acquired large tracts of land in what is now the Free State becoming a successful farmer
· Rangton of Bali (c. 1673-1722), imported Hindu slave, gifted carpenter and wood-carver
· Abdullah ibn Qadi Abdus Salaam alias Tuan Guru (c. 1712-1807), Muslim exile, scholar and early founding father of Islam in South Africa
· Catharina of Pulicat (c. 1631-1683) Indian slave banished to the Cape for life (1656) for killing in defence her lover but later pardoned – her Eurasian son Christoffel Snyman becoming founding father of the prolific Snyman family in South Africa
· Lydia Williams (c. 1820-1910) former slave on the Zonnebloem estate, devout Anglican who lived in District Six and who annually celebrated Emancipation Day with passion and dedication
· Rachel Thoka alias Rachel Mooirivier (c. 1825-1940) West African slave who went on trek with the Griesel family (1830s) and acquainted with Paul Kruger marrying in his house and settling near Bloemfontein; and – despite her age – led a march (1913) protesting against plans to force black women to carry passes
· Sara Janse (c. 1792-1861) slave only 13 when purchased and manumitted by eccentric Dutch missionary / theologian Dr Johannes Theodorus van der Kemp (then aged 58) with a view to marriage, bearing him 4 children, and widowed before she was 20
· Steyntje of the Cape slave who sued her owner George Anderson for her freedom already promised following the death of her 1st owner JG Stadler having fathered a child with her – Privy Council in Britain eventually supported her claim, and she and her children were declared free
[‘The Valley of Grace’, Cape Argus (28 December 2005 & 4 January 2006)].
Arum Lily
Zantedeschia aethiopica (L.) Spreng.
Common names: White or common arum lily (English); wit varkoor (Afrikaans); intebe (Xhosa) ihlukwe (Zulu)
Although called the arum lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica is neither an arum (the genus Arum) nor a lily (genus Lilium). The name aethiopica is not directly related to Ethiopia. In classical times it meant south of the known world ie south of Egypt and Libya. Several Southern African plants were given this specific epithet early on. Introduced to Europe before Jan van Riebeeck established the refreshment station at the Cape and illustrated (1664) in an account of the Royal Garden in Paris. Also sent as one of the interesting plants of the Cape to Europe by Simon van der Stel some time (before 1697). Zantedeschia is named after Giovanni Zantedeschi, 1773-1846, Italian physician and botanist.
About the Artist – interplay between Fine Art & Design
Born and raised in Simonstown, Belinda studied (1979 – 1982) at The Ruth Prowse School of Art (RPSOA) where she obtained a diploma in Fine Art (1979 – 1982). She was awarded (1982) 1st place in The New Signatures Exhibition at The Association of Arts, Bellville. For the next 5 years she painted and participated in various group shows and spending time in The Netherlands. She returned (1987) to the RPSOA to further her studies completing a diploma in Textile/Surface design (1987-1990). For the following 10 years she worked as a designer in the textile industry. Since 2000 she taught Art in schools for 21 years to students (Grades 1-9) as well as Design (Grades 10-12) while painting in her free time. Her experience over the years has included mural painting, set design and painting for stage, acting and directing – all for which she has received awards, including two Cape Times Awards. She retired from teaching (end of 2020) and held (March 2021) a solo exhibition of her illustrations. She is now a full-time artist.