Ngatane oil painting expected to reach top price

AN EPHRAIM Ngatane painting with a R400,000 price tag and a Graaff-Reinet doll made by Laubscher’s Poppen Fabriek in about 1917 will be among the items on offer at the Bernardi Auction art and antiques sale in Hatfield, Pretoria on Monday.

Ngatane’s oil on canvas on board, Figures around the Fire, Orlando, signed and dated 1963, comes with an interesting provenance. According to the family of the deceased owner the painting was gifted to the owner who was a friend of Ngatane and often visited him in Orlando. It is priced at R200,000-R400,000, the high- est price in the art section.

The hand-painted doll, with moulded face, blue eyes, brown hair, eyebrows and pink lips, is the stand-out piece in the collectables section. The estimated price is R3,000-R6,000.

Also in the Ngatane price range is a Cecil Skotnes oil on carved and incised panel, Four Figures, signed and dated 2001. It is tagged at between R180,000 and R250,000.

Errol Boyley is represented by four works, notably an oil on board, Shadowed Landscape, near Worcester, signed and inscribed with the title on the reverse of the frame (R30,000R50,000), and an oil on board, Landscape: Horses beneath an Overcast Sky, signed (R30,000R50,000).

There is also a Walter Battiss silkscreen Sculptured Head: Seychelles, signed in pencil, inscribed “artist’s proof” and numbered 1/2 (R12,000-R18,000).

Furniture pieces include a Victorian fold-over combination games and work table. The rectangular and hinged swivel-top opens to reveal a backgammon, whist and chessboard playing surface (R10,000-R15,000).