{"title":"Samuele Makoanyane: Reconsidering Ceramics Technology and Connoisseurship in Early Modern Southern African Ceramics","authors":"Wendy Gers","doi":"10.1080/00043389.2020.1829357","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article explores ceramics production in the Modern period in South Africa and Lesotho via a contemporary reinterpretation of the oeuvre of the pioneer Mosotho sculptor Samuele Makoanyane (1909–1944). The research methodology includes a critical examination of images of works by Makoanyane in South African public collections, a literature survey of Modern South African and African ceramic sculptural traditions, as well as a detailed scrutiny of two key texts. The first is a booklet by Makoanyane’s agent, C. G. Damant. The second is a report by the artist, curator, teacher, and development consultant Herbert Vladimir Meyerowitz. A critical examination of these texts and images is synthesised with my knowledge of ceramics technology, production techniques, and professional studio practices. The resultant article opens up a new framework for understanding Makoanyane’s oeuvre, and aims to engage with Modernist tropes and historiographies concerning connoisseurship via three hypotheses. The hypotheses centre around the operation of a professional workshop in which assistants were employed and serial reproduction technology was used. These hypotheses open up new possibilities for understanding and re-evaluating the oeuvre of Makoanyane and other similarly neglected early Modern artists. They are a means to augmenting and enriching knowledge of art, craft, and design history in South Africa, and beyond.","PeriodicalId":40908,"journal":{"name":"De Arte","volume":"55 1","pages":"153 - 172"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2020-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/00043389.2020.1829357","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"De Arte","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00043389.2020.1829357","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ART","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract This article explores ceramics production in the Modern period in South Africa and Lesotho via a contemporary reinterpretation of the oeuvre of the pioneer Mosotho sculptor Samuele Makoanyane (1909–1944). The research methodology includes a critical examination of images of works by Makoanyane in South African public collections, a literature survey of Modern South African and African ceramic sculptural traditions, as well as a detailed scrutiny of two key texts. The first is a booklet by Makoanyane’s agent, C. G. Damant. The second is a report by the artist, curator, teacher, and development consultant Herbert Vladimir Meyerowitz. A critical examination of these texts and images is synthesised with my knowledge of ceramics technology, production techniques, and professional studio practices. The resultant article opens up a new framework for understanding Makoanyane’s oeuvre, and aims to engage with Modernist tropes and historiographies concerning connoisseurship via three hypotheses. The hypotheses centre around the operation of a professional workshop in which assistants were employed and serial reproduction technology was used. These hypotheses open up new possibilities for understanding and re-evaluating the oeuvre of Makoanyane and other similarly neglected early Modern artists. They are a means to augmenting and enriching knowledge of art, craft, and design history in South Africa, and beyond.