Groot Constantia Trail #4: Owners & Slaves | History (Part 2)
This is the 4th cache of an 11-cache trail which will take you around this beautiful historic vineyard passing by most of its key features along the way.
The cache, a small, camo-taped tablet pot, is hidden a short distance from the foot of a long flight of slave steps descending from the rear of the Cloete Cellar in a shady wooded area adjacent to a wetland garden bordering a seasonal stream running down through the estate from the mountains.
Groot Constantia’s history is intimately connected with slaves. As in other estates in the country, slaves worked on the Constantia Estate from its establishment in 1685 until 1834 when slavery was abolished. There are several mentions of procurement (and freeing of some) slaves throughout the historical timeline for this period.
But descendants of slaves were also owners of the estate! For example, Anna de Koningh who became the 1st female owner of Groot Constantia in 1724 was the daughter of a slave. On her death in 1734, her neighbour Johannes Colijn living at Hoop op Constantia, purchased GC. His black mother Maria Everts was the daughter of slaves brought from Guinea in 1658.
See here for an excellent resource on slavery in the Cape and Groot Constantia.
Historical Time Line (Part 2: 1789 -1792)
1789: Outbreak of the French Revolution, which lasts until Napoleon seizes power in 1799.
1792: Hendrick Cloete marries Hester Anna Lourens and together they have 11 children. He purchased all the moveable property and the 16 slaves originally belonging to Van der Spuij and added another 16 slaves to help clear up the neglected farm. By 1792 all the new building work had been completed and after 14 years the farm had been given a whole new appearance.
Probably the first building to be erected was the wine cellar - set behind the homestead on the edge of the valley and aligned with the central axis of the house. Although there is no supporting evidence, it is likely that Hendrik Cloete must have retained Louis Michel Thibault (1750-1815) to design the Wine Cellar, which in its finished state would have outshone the unaltered original farm house. Thibault arrived from France to the Cape in 1783, initially as military engineer and later emerged as the leading local architect. The middle section of the Wine Cellar crowned with the triangular pediment is typical of a Townhouse façade from that era.
The delightful stucco relief on the pediment is attributed to the German sculptor Anton Anreith (1754–1822). It depicts fertility and, although Rococo in design, the sculpture blends well with the neo-classicism of the building. It shows Ganymede, cupbearer of the Gods descending on Jove’s eagle, surrounded by frolicking cherubs. Apparently one of the cherubs underwent a gender change during a subsequent restoration!
The date 1791 on the sculpture could indicate its year of completion, but another theory is that Hendrik Cloete commissioned it to commemorate the excellent grape harvest he had in that specific year. Whatever the reason, it is regarded as one of the most important sculptures in the country.
The slender gables of the Manor House were added, as well as the figure of ‘Abundance’ in the niche of the main gable. The ornamental vases on the side gables were also added. As with the wine cellar, Thibault and Anreith are regarded as the architect and sculptor responsible for the work on the Manor House.
