Samuel Daniell: Khoisan busy barbecuing grasshoppers

Public Domain Image: Khoisan busy barbecuing grasshoppers (1805), aqua tint by English painter Samuel Daniell (1775-1811), scan from Suid-Afrikaanse Geskiedenis in Beeld (1989) by Anthony Preston, Bion Books, printed in South Africa.

The aqua tint shows a Khoisan (Khoesaan, Khoesan or Khoe-San) family with the man busy barbecuing grasshoppers while his wife is looking on. The name Khoisan is for two ethnic groups of Southern Africa, who share physical and linguistic characteristics distinct from the Bantu majority of the region. Culturally the Khoisan people are divided into the pastoral Khoi and the foraging San.

Sarah Baartman, the most famous Khoikhoi woman

PD Image: Sarah Baartman, a caricature drawn in the early 19th century.

Sarah ‘Saartjie, Baartman (1789-1815), is the most famous of the Khoikhoi women who were exhibited as freak show attractions in 19th century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus, Hottentot being an offensive name used for the Khoi people and Venus referring to the Roman goddess of love.

Sarah Baartman, born to a Khoisan family in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, a slave of Dutch farmers near Cape Town, was taken to London in 1810 and exhibited around Britain, forced to entertain people by gyrating her nude buttocks and showing to Europeans what were thought of as highly unusual body features.

A Frenchman purchased Sarah Baartman and took her to France, and an animal trainer Regu exhibited her under more pressured conditions for fifteen months. Initially she became popular among the nobles, artists and others, and when the novelty had worn thin with the Parisians, she began to drink heavily and support herself with prostitution.

She died on 29 December 1815 at the age of 25, of an undetermined ailment, speculated as smallpox, syphilis, or pneumonia. Her skeleton, preserved genitals and brain were placed on display in Paris' Musée de l'Homme until 1974.

From the 1940’s there were mounting pressures on the French for the return of her remains to her native South Africa. After the victory of African National Congress in 1994, President Nelson Mandela formally requested France to return Sarah Baartman’s remains. After much legal wrangling and debates in the French National Assembly, France acceded to the request on 6 March 2002. Baartman’s remains were repatriated to her homeland, the Gamtoos Valley, on 6 May 2002 and buried on 9 August 2002 at Vergaderingskop, a hill in the town of Hankey about 200 years after her birth.

Sarah Baartman became a popular subject for many writers, humanists, and those who opposed exhibiting human beings as zoo animals are exhibited. Now there is The Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children opened in Cape Town opened in 1999, and South Africa's first offshore environmental protection vessel, the Sarah Baartman, is also named after her.

A French drama film, ‘Black Venus’ (French: Vénus noire), based on the life of Sarah Baartman, featuring Yahima Torres as Sarah Baartman, directed by Abdel Kechiche is scheduled for release date on 27 October 2010.

Wild ostriches at Cape of Good Hope

Photo: Wild ostriches at Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

ATTRIBUTION: © by James G. Howes, 2006 (Note: copyright holder must be properly attributed, if you are reusing this photo, as this is NOT a public domain photo).

Cape of Good Hope

Photo: Cape of Good Hope, view from the coastal cliffs above Cape Point (16 April 2008)

The Cape of Good Hope (Kaap de Goede Hoop / Cabo da Boa Esperança) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of South Africa. There is a misconception that Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean. In fact, the southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) to the east-southeast. The Atlantic and Indian oceans meet at a point between Cape Agulhas and Cape Point, about one kilometer east of Cape of Good Hope.

Cape Town City Centre, view from Lion’s Head

City centre of Cape Town, view from the nearby mountain Lion’s Head, in South Africa (15 January 2009)

Cape Town, the second most populous city in South Africa, is the provincial capital and the legislative capital of South Africa. Cape Town is famous for its harbour as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral kingdom, including such well known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is Africa's most popular destination for tourism.

Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was developed by the Dutch East India Company as a supply station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India and the Far East. Jan van Riebeeck's, the first European settler, arrived on 6 April 1652 and established the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. It is one of the best multicultural cities in the world and a major destination for immigrants and expatriates to South Africa.

Devil's Peak seen from Newlands Cricket Ground

Photo: Devil's Peak as seen from Newlands Cricket Ground (2005).

Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town, South Africa, is the home of the Cape Cobras, who play in the SuperSport Series, MTN Domestic Championship and Standard Bank Pro20 competitions. A venue for Test matches, Newlands is regarded as one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in the world, being overlooked by Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. It is close to Newlands Stadium, which is a rugby union and football venue.

Jan van Riebeeck, the first European to settle in South Africa

Image: The first European to settle in South Africa, Jan van Riebeeck, arrives in Table Bay in April 1652, Devil's Peak in the background, painting by Charles Bell (1813-1882).

Jan van Riebeeck (1619-1677) was a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town in South Africa. Devil's Peak, standing 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) high, is part of the mountainous backdrop to Cape Town, the central districts of which are nestled within this natural amphitheatre. Today’s city grew out of the first Dutch settlement and some of the first farms in the Cape were established on the slopes of Devils Peak, along the Liesbeek River.