Enjoy a virtual live auction from the comfort of your home

Strauss & Co’s annual mid-winter auction offers a host of interesting options for discerning buyers searching for something beyond the ordinary. The auctioneer’s latest live July broadcast auction not only features an impressive selection of modern, post-war and contemporary art, but also includes decorative arts and jewellery, as well as a standalone sale of sweet and fortified wines and whisky.

Susie Goodman, an executive director at Strauss & Co, says that the sale showcases selections from each of Strauss & Co’s departments, with real treasures to be found among the various lots. “The two-day sale features four sessions exclusively devoted to art and one to decorative arts and books. It commences with a special session compiled by our wine department that features rare natural and fortified sweet wines from renowned South African and international producers.”

Strauss & Co’s team of auctioneers will conduct the live broadcast auction from the company’s Johannesburg and Cape Town offices on Sunday 11 and Monday 12 July 2021, in accordance with the current Covid-19 restrictions. Prospective buyers will be able to follow the sale in real time and bid online from the safety of their own homes through the Strauss & Co website.

Art-buyers can look forward to an impressive selection of work by South African artists, including Hugo Naudé, J.H. Pierneef and Anton van Wouw, whose small sculpture Miner is on the sale with estimates of R 250 000–350 000. The auction includes two early Pierneef lots – a charcoal and pencil still life from 1906 and a 1925 pastel in autumnal colours portraying willow trees.

Another treat is banking group FirstRand’s consignment of a large batch of wildlife artworks by established twentieth century artists, including Paul Bosman, Kim Donaldson, Liz McMahon, and David Shepherd. The large corporate’s acquisition policy has been streamlined and the collection of high-quality and desirable botanical, animal and bird artworks is being de-accessioned over the next few months to make way for a significant re-investment in contemporary South African art.

Firm favourites William Kentridge, Walter Battiss and Diane Victor are represented in the graphic section of the Strauss & Co sale, with no less than 10 Battiss woodcuts, screenprints, linocuts and drawings available to interested collectors.

Wine enthusiasts can look forward to the auctioning off of 18 vintages of Vin de Constance in the opening session. This offering includes four 500ml bottles of the 2009, estimated to sell for between R8 000 and R10 000, while the highly regarded 1987 could fetch up to R30 000. Other South African sweet wine producers include Boplaas, De Trafford, KWV, Monis, Mullineux, Nederberg and Overgaauw.

The international line-up also holds wonderful gems from iconic producers such as Chateau d’Yquem, Suduiraut, M. Chapoutier, Alois Kracher and Egon Müller.

For those who value fine jewellery in addition to rare vintages, Monday 12 July’s 10am session is the place to be. In this session an Edwardian seed pearl and aquamarine gold brooch, estimated to fetch between R5 000 and R7 000 is already attracting a lot of attention. There are also exquisite timepieces by makers such as Ebel, Georg Jensen and Mont Blanc up for auction in this session.

The auction offers treasure hunters an extensive selection of George III-period silverware as well as an Edward VII silver teapot and hot water jug from 1901 and a George V silver presentation tray from 1931, both by Walker & Hall, Sheffield.

In the last session, a glazed ceramic sculpture by Nico Masemola titled Hare with Blue Patches should attract significant interest after another work by this artist, also depicting hares, sold for R62 590 in Strauss & Co’s inaugural ceramics focus in November 2020, way above its high estimate.

Details of each session and comprehensive lot information can be viewed on the auction house’s website.

Strauss & Co is also delighted to present a non-selling exhibition, currently on display in its Johannesburg gallery, which pairs iconic artists Robert Hodgins and George Pemba. Titled “Social Stances”, the exhibition brings together a group of works from private and institutional collections that would otherwise be inaccessible to the public. It runs for the whole of July and can be viewed by appointment only, subject to prevailing Covid-19 restrictions. The exciting e-catalogue that accompanies the exhibition can be viewed and downloaded on the company’s website.

Lot 254

George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba

SOUTH AFRICAN 1912-2001

Young Girl

Watercolour on paper

R 100 000 – 120 000

Lot 188

Nelson Makamo

SOUTH AFRICAN 1982-

Relocating

Acrylic on canvas

R 40 000 – 60 000

Lot 197

Pieter Hugo

SOUTH AFRICAN 1976-

Sam, Klein Karoo, South Africa

Colour digital photograph

R 120 000 – 150 000

Lot 211

Anton van Wouw

SOUTH AFRICAN 1862-1945

Miner, maquette

Bronze with a brown patina on a granite base

R 250 000 – 350 000

Lot 284

Edwardian seed pearl and aquamarine 15ct gold pendant/brooch

R 5 000 – 7 000

Lot 302

Ruby, emerald and diamond gold pendant/brooch, 1970s

R 12 000 – 15 000

Lot 333

A set of ten George III mahogany dining chairs

R 25 000 – 30 000

Lot 336

A George III figured mahogany bowfronted tallboy/chest-on-chest

R 15 000 – 20 000

Lot 374

Walker & Hall Sheffield, United Kingdom

An Edward VII silver teapot and hot water jug, Walker & Hall, Sheffield, 1901

R 12 000 – 15 000

Lot 382

Walker & Hall Sheffield, United Kingdom

A George V silver presentation tray, Walker & Hall, Sheffield, 1931

R 20 000 – 25 000

Lot 596

Nico Masemola

SOUTH AFRICAN 1987-2015

Hare with Blue Patches

Ceramic with white, blue, yellow, black and green glaze

R 15 000 – 20 000

Lot 608

Cecil Higgs

SOUTH AFRICAN 1898-1986

Bus Ticket

Oil on canvas

R 18 000 – 24 000

Lot 615

Willie Bester

SOUTH AFRICAN 1956-

Freedom Now

Mixed media and found objects on board

R 20 000 – 30 000

Lot 627

Mikhael Subotzky

SOUTH AFRICAN 1981-

Fancy Dress Competition, Beaufort West Agricultural Show, 2006

Lightjet C-Print

R 8 000 – 12 000

Lot 667

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef

SOUTH AFRICAN 1886-1957

Stillewe

Charcoal and pencil on paper

R 180 000 – 240 000

Lot 668

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef

SOUTH AFRICAN 1886-1957

Wilgerbome

Pastel on paper

R 200 000 – 300 000