Volume 43, January 2014, Pages 28–38
Highlights
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- Samuel Daniell’s time in Southern Africa between 1799 and 1803 is reconstructed.
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- The political context of the first British occupation of the Cape is described.
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- The ideological aspect of Daniell’s representation of African peoples is clarified.
Abstract
Samuel Daniell’s African Scenery and Animals
of 1804–5 is justly celebrated in the literature of art history as one
of the most beautiful accounts of African life of any time, but has been
rather neglected by other historians. This paper considers how this
major project is likely to have taken shape, situating it in the context
of the first British occupation of the Cape in order to reveal the
ideological dimensions of his representation of African peoples. The
paper argues that Daniell’s visit to the Cape from 1799 to 1803 is
likely to have been inspired by his relatives’, William and Thomas
Daniell’s work in India, notably their Oriental Scenery of
1795–8, and that his view of Southern Africa developed as he travelled
through the sub-continent in the company of British officials. At a time
before Britain had any formal colonial ambitions at the Cape, its
officials developed distinct images of the three main population groups
occupying the territory – the Dutch colonists (the ‘Boors’), the Xhosa
(so-called ‘Kaffers’) beyond the borders, and the Khoisan (so-called
‘Hottentots’ and ‘Bushmen’) whose fortunes contrasted strongly whether
they lived inside the colony, in conditions of slavery on Boer farms, or
outside the colony in a state of freedom. Daniell gave visual form to
these images, notably through the classical language of art, and so
expressed the turmoil on the frontier as a contest between the
Enlightenment terms of liberty and oppression.
Keywords
- Samuel Daniell;
- Cape Colony;
- First British Occupation;
- Boers;
- Xhosa;
- Khoisan
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