Prayers and Proscinemi

Sometimes one comes across an artwork that is appealing on so many levels without consciously knowing why. When I came across an artwork described as, A Proscinemi for Persephone, at an auction, it strongly appealed to me. Featuring eighteen symbolic tablets, containing references to seed, earth, a pomegranate, and classical Greek inscription, I was curious to learn more.

Procinemi for Demeter in its new home

I knew the secret lay in the title. I had no idea what a Proscinemi was, but I recognised Persephone as the Greek goddess of seasons and vegetation, and queen of the Underworld. The part concerning the seasons and vegetation appealed to me, less so the Underworld. The seasons and vegetation are vital to life at Towerwater.

Then I discovered that Proscinemi is a prayer, or act of adoration or homage offered to the divinity to ask protection, help, or health for oneself or for dear and absent persons. It does not always have to imply a religious concern, but it can also be devotions made for the prosperity of relatives or friends that are far away by remembering them during a visit to some wonderful monument.

Towerwater embodies our monument to creative craftsmanship and the celebration of family and friendship in a place that is special to us.

The symbolism in the artwork reflected what we do at Towerwater. Where we celebrate absent friends and family when they can’t be with us and give thanks when they are able to join us. I decided to bid on the artwork and bring it to Towerwater. I thought, at Towerwater it can appropriately fulfil its symbolic role as a celebration of friends and family in their absence and presence.

On closer inspection, after taking delivery in Wellington, near Cape Town, I discovered that the work needed remounting. We decided to keep the work under wraps and take it directly to framers in Salt River, Cape Town for remounting. I asked that the original information card on the back to be retained on the new backing.

On collecting and finally unwrapping the remounted Joe Tilson etching, I could study the fish moth eaten information card on the back. I discovered that it was a Proscinemi for Demeter and not Persephone, as had been previously indicated. It had been traded by the Joseph Wolpe Gallery in Cape Town some years prior to the Gallery’s closure in 1990, when Joseph decided to take up full-time painting.

Wolpe introduced South Africans to international art through finely chosen works which were exhibited in his gallery, while at the same time showcasing local artists like Stern, Skotnes, Higgs, Page and Gassner. Unknowingly, I had bought an artwork with a very interesting provenance.

Joe Tilson did create a Proscinemi for Persephone, 1981 - confusing the auction house

Joe Tilson (1928 - ) is a British artist and Royal Academian who played a major role in the British Pop Art movement in the 1960s. The Greek themes first appeared in his work following a visit to Greece in 1981. The ‘Proscinimi’ etchings, present the idea of paying homage to the earth and relates to visits to sacred places associated with the gods of ancient times.

The work contains clues to the mythology of the goddess. The image of the hand for instance, symbolises the ancient ritual of laying hands on a sacred site. The image relates to the history of ‘Proskynema', practiced by the Greeks in Egypt. ‘Proskynema’ is where a Pilgrim would leave a votive offering, an inscription, or an image as a trace of their visit to a holy site. Among the tablets presented in the work are references to grain, seed, the earth's fertility, a pomegranate, and the labyrinth. The variously formed ‘tablet' shapes with eyeholes suggest ancient writing tablets from which their inscriptions have long since disappeared.

Proscinemi for Demeter by Joe Tilson, 32/50, 1981

When I realised that the proscinemi was for Demeter, all the references to Demeter in the 18 collage items suddenly made sense. Secretly, I was happy that it was for Demeter and not her daughter, Persephone.

A statue of Demeter at the British Museum, London.

Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. She is the sister of Poseidon and Zeus. I think the Proscinemi for Demeter is a very appropriate addition to Towerwater where harvest, agriculture and the fertility of the earth plays a very important part in our daily lives. And what better way can there be to pay homage to friends and family.

Fixing limewash problems on traditional interior walls

Working with traditional building material requires more than an off-the-shelf solution for problems. This is particularly true when it comes to the finishing detail on walls, like plastering, rendering, and painting. With the buildings at Towerwater having been built with sunbaked bricks, plastered, and rendered with a mud plaster, and painted with limewash throughout, it is important to understand the different materials used and their chemical relationship to each other. It is this knowledge, or awareness, that is essential when it comes to traditional building restoration or maintenance.

The Voorkamer limewashed with Deep Cream Limewash

One frustration encountered in maintaining the inside of the building, was that not all the walls in rooms reacted in the same way when limewashed. Although all environmental conditions were the same and the same brand of limewash was used throughout. The only variable being the selected colour shade of the limewash, differing one room from another.

The limewash on the walls in three rooms was very good and we never experienced sifting. However, in another three rooms a problem manifested where the limewash appeared to powder against the wall and constantly sift onto the floor and nearby furnishings.

To assess each room and identify anomalies that might cause this sifting, was no easy process. The rooms were all prepared in the same way prior to limewashing. The fact that the limewash contained different colour pigmentation, we thought, should not have affected the end result in that way.

Different colour limewash for different rooms 

In determining what might have gone wrong during the limewashing process, we looked closely at what could have gone wrong with the preparation of the walls and the application of the limewash. The walls were all cleaned down to remove powdery or flaking limewash. The walls were carefully dampened with water prior to, and again after limewashing, so as to ensure a slow curing process. The only variables at this stage were a possible variation in the consistency of the limewash (continuous stirring is important) and the length of time between the application of subsequent coats.

The manufacturer’s information on the drums of limewash, indicates that the limewash is ready for use after it has been stirred thoroughly. It also indicates that one can add some water to thin the limewash and that will help to apply it more easily. Multiple thin coats are preferable to one or two thick coats. I did all that the first time, so no real warning lights going on where the thickness was concerned. Did I apply the layers too soon? The manufacturer’s information indicated that it was best to let the coats dry overnight but one can paint the second coat when the first is visibly dry. Clearly, the coats were applied the correct way. The only step I might not have followed properly was to dampen the walls between coats.

The grey limewash in the drum and the end result on a bedroom wall

It did not explain why three rooms were fine and another three not.  We decided to follow every instruction to the letter when applying limewash on the interior walls this time. The walls in the first problem room were prepared by brushing with a stiff brush. After that, all the walls were vacuumed to remove any remaining dust or loose material.

The first coat of the limewash went on like a dream but as it dried, it was clear that we had not solved the sifting problem. Very despondent, we went back to our sources. We contacted the manufacturers. They could not advise us but instead freely offered two samples of their other products to apply over the limewash as a sealant. They requested that we provide feedback on our findings. Although we accepted the products, we were reluctant to use it on our walls. Sealing the walls with an acrylic water-resistant finish seemed to defeat the purpose of using limewash that expressly allows the earthen walls to breath by allowing the free passage of moisture.

We decided that the solution for a problem with a traditional product must be found in traditional usage practices. We could find little guidance and information for the use of limewash in South Africa. With the slow demise of traditional buildings in the Western Cape and the country at large, the demand for traditional building materials seems also to be reducing and with it, the associated vernacular knowledge.

Rennet Casein powder

Reading some technical advice on a British website about lime, offered some hope. Several traditional formulas consist of lime slaked and thinned to a cream to which various additions are made, such as salt, alum, powdered glue, casein (skimmed milk), etc.  Limewash that contains casein will have a better binding with the wall and the coagulation of the limewash will prevent the lime from sifting when it is dry. There is amazing information to be found about limewash and the chemical reactions of it with walls. The use of casein for architectural purposes dates to the ancient Egyptians who used lime-casein to protect renders.

Casein gives greater binding properties to clay and lime mixtures. Casein, like lime, is breathable. We decided that adding casein will provide the most likely solution to the sifting or flaking problem when the limewash is applied to the walls. A small quantity of casein added to limewash will thicken and strengthen it considerably.

Liquid rennet used in cheese making

Rennet (complex enzymes found in the stomach of a calf) and casein (a protein found in milk) are key ingredients in cheese making. Rennet casein contains casein of 100 % purity. Milk powder also contains casein but at a lower percentage, of around 80%.

After proper research, Keith set off to the largest cheese factory of the three found in our valley to enquire about buying some rennet casein in the hope of solving our limewash problem. The plant manager was very accommodating and generously provided Keith with 500g samples each of the powder products Rennet Casein and Casein with which to experiment.

Liquid rennet and casein powder

The ratio of rennet casein to limewash we found on a lime information website from the UK. We mixed 25 grams of the rennet casein powder to 1 litre of limewash. This limewash and rennet casein mixture worked like a charm. Apart from giving the wall a smooth dust free look, the limewash now also adheres to the walls without rubbing off.

Adding casein and rennet to the limewash 

For the casein mixture we used the same ratio of 25 grams of casein to 1 litre of limewash, but we added 0.166 ml (½ ml on 3 litres) of rennet. We bought a handy 100ml container of rennet from a shop in Cape Town that sells cheese-making ingredients. Adding either the ready mixed Rennet Casein or the Casein powder with the liquid Rennet product, provided the same excellent results.

The end result of using the ingredients for cheesemaking in the limewash, solved our problem. Reading about adding buttermilk to one’s limewash now makes so much sense because it is, after all, another source of casein. Knowing what casein can do for the adhesion of limewash to walls, I can understand why wall paintings from ancient Egypt still look so clear and fresh, even after the passage of thousands of years.

Adding some ingredients for cheese-making to one’s limewash does not seem so cheesy after all.

 

Sources:

https://www.lime.org.uk/  - Limewash Application Guide

https://www.readkong.com/page/paints-and-their-history-articles-printed-in-the-western-3348832 - Paints and their History

https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1382&context=hp_theses - Traditional Architectural Renders on Earthen Surfaces

 

Dressing a Neoclassical four poster bed

Years ago, when Hettie Pool still had her antique shop on the corner of High and Trappes Streets, in Worcester, we popped in to say hello to Ena Steyn, a friend’s mom, who managed the shop. The shop occupied one of the original thatched townhouses, dating from the 1800’s.  We took the opportunity to look around the many rooms that were filled with antiques.

Ena showed us a rural Cape Neoclassical four poster bed made from yellowwood and stinkwood. Although the Neoclassical period in Europe spanned the years 1760 to 1820, the stylistic Neoclassical period at the Cape of Good Hope occurred a bit later, featuring in the years from 1790 to 1870. (Source: Ou-Kaapse Meubels, Matilda Burden, 2013).

The bed embodied the classical characteristics of the period, namely, clarity of form with strong horizontal and vertical lines that give it a timeless feel. We really liked the bed and decided that it would be perfect for the master bedroom at Towerwater. When we bought the bed, it was undressed, meaning that it had only the stinkwood frame resting on the top of the four posts without canopy or hangings.

We decided on the final colours for the bedroom during the latest round of renovations and refurbishments. This included the curtains, canopy, bed hangings and lampshades. In pursuit of historical inspiration, I could find no accurate visual record of how a typical canopy and bed hangings of this period in the Cape, might have looked.

In his book, Cape Antique Furniture, published in April 1959, Lennox van Onselen describes bedroom furniture in chapter five. He states that, “Cape bedroom furniture usually consisted of a fourposter bed, an armoire, a washstand and a dressing table on which stood a dressing mirror.” He says about the four-poster bed, “They were adopted as a necessity in the country districts where living quarters and sleeping apartments were not always differentiated. The curtains with which the sides could be enclosed gave a measure of privacy in overcrowded rooms and the canopy afforded protection from dust which inevitably sifted through the makeshift ceiling.”

Describing the construction of the bed, he says, “At the Cape, the craftsmen followed a middle of the road policy. The posters were turned or fluted and the bedhead or end was very often embossed with scrollwork and carving. The canopy, which was sometimes decorated with the shell or oakleaf motif, never reached the heights of extravagance it did in Europe.”

In her unpublished thesis, The interior of the Cape house, 1670 to 1714, submitted in May 1982, Carolyn Woodward gives detailed descriptions of the beds found in a Cape house during this period on pages 100 to 111. She found that the word “Ledekant” was used to describe a four-poster bed at the Cape. In the inventories there are several mentions of a “ledekant (four poster bed) met behangsel (canopy and curtains)” but the only indication of what it might look like was the mention of the colour.

After consulting several books on Cape furniture, namely, Cape Antique Furniture, Lennox van Onselen, 1959, Cape Furniture, M G Atmore, 1965, Cape Country Furniture, M Baraitser and A Oberholzer, 1971, Town Furniture of the Cape, M Baraitser an A Oberholzer, 1987, Cape Antique Furniture, M Baraitser and A Oberholzer, 2004 and Ou-Kaapse Meubels, Matilda Burden, 2013, we decided to go with a plain canopy with a scallop design.

The colours selected for dressing the bed were inspired by the Royal blue and Ochre glass in the happy door leading to the ensuite bathroom. The canopy was made using Royal Blue fabric trimmed with antique gold braid. We decided to replace the traditional heavy curtains around the bed with mosquito net. This, given that the function of the curtains would be more to keep out prying mosquitos during summer than for privacy. In a balmy summer, heavy curtains enclosing the bed might also prove unbearable. A mosquito net, however, would allow for comfortable ventilation while offering protection.

The curtains seen through the mosquito net

Dressing the bed gives us a sense of progress and completion in the ongoing Towerwater restoration project. Detailing the interior to match the exterior of the buildings, long formed part of the dream to restore and capture the essence of a Cape period house. Using period South African furniture, porcelain, fabrics and other design elements, made it a bit more challenging but so much more rewarding in the end.

Now we can go to bed in a dressed four-poster described as the king of beds and a bed fit for a king.