Antiquarian Auctions

Auction #132 begins on 09 Jul 2026

Duggan-Cronin (Alfred Martin)

SHANGAAN WOMAN

Large silver-gelatin print. 29 x 22 cm. Not signed or framed

Published: No date, 1933

Reserve: $400

Approximately:

Estimate: $500/600

Bidding opens: 9 Jul 16:30 GMT

Bidding closes: 16 Jul 16:30 GMT

Ships from: South Africa

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(McGregor Museum, Kimberley, Duggan-Cronin collection reference number dc2566. Shangaan mother and child taken in Portuguese East Africa, 1933)

The image appears in Duggan-Cronin's THE BANTU TRIBES OF SOUTH AFRICA, Reproductions of photographic studies, Volume IV, Section I, Plates I-XL: The Vathonga (The Thonga-Shangaan People) (1935), where it is  Plate X, titled 'A Shangaan Woman and Child', with the caption on the facing tissue guard:

A SHANGAAN WOMAN AND CHILD. The woman is wearing a ntshila, an imported cloth of a dark blue or dark red colour, which is tied under the arms, and a skirt (ntshuvu) consisting of several yards of printed calico pleated at the back and sides. A multi-coloured piece of cloth (nguvu) is thrown over her left shoulder. Around her neck she wears a string of heavy glass beads (vuhlalu), and on her legs brass rings (vumborani). The child is carried in a skin sling (mbeleko) on her back.

A very good image, mounting tape on the back, preserved in a mylar sleeve.



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