Digital George Stow
Image: STOW_086
Institution : Iziko (no number assigned)
Size : 1007mmx672mm
Description : Seven figures of mixed description. One of the figures in the top right corner holds a stick and the other lies on its back with a round-ended stick or knobkerrie in its hand and its legs in the air. There is a rainbow-shaped form or marking in the top left corner of the painting. Three elephants appear, two large and one smaller or infant. "Cave on the farm Balt Fontein Orange River O.F.S."
Verso : "69"
Description in published source : "ORANGE FREE STATE ROUXVILLE DISTRICT PLATE 22 The country to the north of the Orange River is full of small hills, in between which stretch plains. The ground is hard and stony except in the beds of the rivulets running into the Orange River. An old Bushman, Ow’ku’ru’ku, who used to live in this part of the country from the junction of the Caledon and Orange Rivers to the Knoffel Spruit, met a Voortrekker, David Swanepool, in 1839 and boasted to him of the beautiful paintings in the cave of his father. He and his people were called ‘friendly Bushmen’ in those days by the hunters who used to come here after game, but they were not spared later when the settlers came in and seized the land. LOCALITY.- Cave on the farm Klipfontein, near the Orange River. SITE,- The road from Aliwal North to Bethulie passes through a gap in low hills six or seven miles from the Orange River bridge. The hill to the north is higher and crowned with a ridge of rock under which is a cave with paintings. DESCRIPTION.- On a corner slab are the two elephants with the man between them and the men running below, the whole group very faint, but clear enough to show how good the copy is. The two other men are farther off. The band of colour is at the other end of the cave by itself in red and a yellowish white. The group of Europeans in red and white is on a narrow panel of rock with several animals. Beside the man is a thing like a lantern. A circle of white paint had been added since- Stow's day, partly covering the man’s hat. In other parts of the cave there are smears of red paint and of white paint and white chalk daubed over the pictures, evidently some vandal’s work. EXPLANATION.- The men with sticks are engaged in a dance, or ceremony including dancing. The band looks like a trial of colours rather than an attempt at drawing anything. Dimensions: 19 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches." (Bleek) [In the published version (plate 22) there are an extra two figures in a box in the bottom left corner, in European dress, probably superimposed there by the editor at a later stage to show proximity.]
Published : "Rock Paintings in SA" plate 22
Locality : Klipfontein farm, Orange River, OFS
Size : 1007mmx672mm
Description : Seven figures of mixed description. One of the figures in the top right corner holds a stick and the other lies on its back with a round-ended stick or knobkerrie in its hand and its legs in the air. There is a rainbow-shaped form or marking in the top left corner of the painting. Three elephants appear, two large and one smaller or infant. "Cave on the farm Balt Fontein Orange River O.F.S."
Verso : "69"
Description in published source : "ORANGE FREE STATE ROUXVILLE DISTRICT PLATE 22 The country to the north of the Orange River is full of small hills, in between which stretch plains. The ground is hard and stony except in the beds of the rivulets running into the Orange River. An old Bushman, Ow’ku’ru’ku, who used to live in this part of the country from the junction of the Caledon and Orange Rivers to the Knoffel Spruit, met a Voortrekker, David Swanepool, in 1839 and boasted to him of the beautiful paintings in the cave of his father. He and his people were called ‘friendly Bushmen’ in those days by the hunters who used to come here after game, but they were not spared later when the settlers came in and seized the land. LOCALITY.- Cave on the farm Klipfontein, near the Orange River. SITE,- The road from Aliwal North to Bethulie passes through a gap in low hills six or seven miles from the Orange River bridge. The hill to the north is higher and crowned with a ridge of rock under which is a cave with paintings. DESCRIPTION.- On a corner slab are the two elephants with the man between them and the men running below, the whole group very faint, but clear enough to show how good the copy is. The two other men are farther off. The band of colour is at the other end of the cave by itself in red and a yellowish white. The group of Europeans in red and white is on a narrow panel of rock with several animals. Beside the man is a thing like a lantern. A circle of white paint had been added since- Stow's day, partly covering the man’s hat. In other parts of the cave there are smears of red paint and of white paint and white chalk daubed over the pictures, evidently some vandal’s work. EXPLANATION.- The men with sticks are engaged in a dance, or ceremony including dancing. The band looks like a trial of colours rather than an attempt at drawing anything. Dimensions: 19 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches." (Bleek) [In the published version (plate 22) there are an extra two figures in a box in the bottom left corner, in European dress, probably superimposed there by the editor at a later stage to show proximity.]
Published : "Rock Paintings in SA" plate 22
Locality : Klipfontein farm, Orange River, OFS
