COOL COLLECTIVE

For lovers of intriguing spaces, a visit to the eclectic home of this Cape Town creative is a bit like discovering a treasure trove. Layer upon layer of colour and character mark every room in a curated collection of African craft and artworks acquired over a lifetime.

-  MANDY ALLEN

First impressions are peculiar things. They can be spot on or perfectly inaccurate.

Greeted at the front door of the graceful period home that belongs to one of Cape Town’s most respected curators of local arts and crafts the words that immediately come to mind are ‘farmstead’, ‘eccentric’ and ‘bohemian’. As it turns out, these are wholly accurate. Flanked by Lenghi and Lunah, the large dogs that are her constant companions, I recognise her immediately. She tells me she would prefer to remain anonymous, a request that makes total sense considering she’s a bit shy and much more at ease behind the scenes.

The daughter of a German immigrant, she was born and raised in an insulated rural farming community where days played out at a quiet pace. Displaying a notable artistic ability from an early age, this determined character – let’s call her ‘Jane’, purely for the purpose of this story – became an acclaimed ceramicist and went on to establish herself as one of the most respected champions of local craft on the South African design landscape.

Jane’s home is on a large property that dates to 1904, and every inch of it is informed in both atmosphere and aesthetic by her formative years on the farm. I spot several pieces of inherited antique furniture that appear heavy with history, interspersed with interesting lighting fixtures and a collection of paintings she shares are the work of an artist uncle. The house is surrounded by a dense garden that Jane tends to passionately, which appears to drape over the property like a green cloak.