Stinkwood cabinet sold for R1.9 million

Strauss & Co’s Cape Town Auction Week generated over R50 million in sales, as several art and furniture pieces fetched record prices. One piece, a stinkwood armoire, sold for R1.9 million.

Held across two days, on 24 and 25 March 2026, Strauss & Co’s flagship Cape Town Auction Week saw excellent results.

Certain offerings performed particularly well, including paintings by Irma Stern, Gerard Sekoto, and J.H. Pierneef, as well as Cape furniture and Asian ceramics from a private collection.

A Cape stinkwood and beefwood armoire sold for R1.9 million, an impressive result for a once-prized collectable that has been stagnant on the market in recent years.

The large, freestanding cabinet was sold to a room buyer who managed to beat out more than 60 competitive bids.

It formed part of Generations of Collecting: An Important Collection of Cape Silver, Oriental Ceramics, Furniture and Art, a two-part sale composed of diverse collectables acquired by three generations of a single family.

The quality of this consignment attracted bidders from 29 countries and ultimately earned R12.6 million from 242 lots sold – an 88.64% lot sell-through rate.

It featured notable art, silverware and furniture, and was stocked with collectables linked to the city’s history as a port on east-west trade routes.

The quality of the collectables caused the Day Sale to run for more than five hours, overshooting its allocated time.

Strauss & Co chairperson Frank Kilbourn said it was very encouraging to see collectors actively engaged and bidding throughout the auction week.

“The energy was palpable, even at the preview events, and participants in our auctions were genuinely excited about what we were presenting,” Kilbourn said.

“All the pre-auction work, from the exhibitions and talks to the discrete client engagements, came together to create an experience that was both meaningful and engaging.”

He added that both the overall and individual results demonstrate Strauss & Co’s ability to attract and steward potential buyers.

“We are able to reach important buyers, not only in South Africa but globally. The extended runtime of the Day Sale is a testament to how captivated everyone was by the works we offered,” he said.

Irma Stern dominates the auction

Cape Town Auction Week also featured a number of noteworthy collections, among them modernist artworks by Irma Stern and J.H. Pierneef from the Stan and Li Boiskin Art Collection.

All the Sterns and Pierneefs from the Boiskin Art Collection sold, as did a quartet of works by George Pemba, including The Orator (1991), which sold for R554,520.

Gerard Sekoto’s oil painting, Game of Draughts in a Crowd (c.1940 to 1941) from the collection of former Cape Town mayor Patricia Fine, attracted considerable interest. It sold after 25 bids to an online buyer for R2.63 million.

But the night was once again dominated by Stern. Her 1961 Mantilla was secured by a telephone buyer for R3.66 million, the top price of the evening.

A late work linked to Stern’s Iberian travels, Slender Nude (1961) fetched R1.5 million, while her Still Life with Grapefruit (1954) sold for R1.8 million.

Demand for Maggie Laubser, a contemporary of Stern, was uneven but not without high points, with two of her paintings selling for over R600,000.

Cape Town Auction Week saw an impressive auction debut for Mmangaliso Nzuza, whose 2023 painting sold to a room bidder for R438,995.

Among the sculpture consignment, Doreen Southwood’s award-winning work, The Swimmer (2003) drew the attention of room, telephone and online bidders. It sold to an online buyer after protracted bidding for R577,625.

Guy du Toit’s bronze Hare Sitting on a Crate sold above estimate for R577,625, as did Igshaan Adams’ suspended wire sculpture, Cloud VIII (2019), which achieved R369,680.

The top-selling lots from the two Generations of Collecting sessions included a Cape armoire and an engraved glass goblet.

Two telephone bidders pursued the glass goblet with Rococo-engraved maritime scenes and VOC motifs from the mid-18th century, which was eventually secured for R462,100.

A Qing-dynasty Dehua porcelain figure depicting the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma (Damo in China) smashed its pre-sale estimate, selling for R635,388.

Chinese ceramics drew deep interest, with a pair of Kangxi-period blue-and-white porcelain rice bowls sold for R300,365, surpassing the high estimate by 3,250%.

A group of six Chinese blue-and-white porcelain miniature vases from the Qing dynasty also broke through pre-sale expectations, selling for R50,453.

Five Edo-period Arita dishes with the monogram of the Dutch East India Company attracted considerable interest, with two selling for over R200,000 each.

Rare Cape furniture, silver and artworks attract high prices

Top prices were also paid for Cape furniture and silver. A bow-fronted Cape stinkwood corner cupboard sold for R311,918, and a Cape stinkwood side table mounted with a Robben Island slate-top achieved R199,325.

A Cape silver teapot (c.1768 to 1811) sold for R234,500, and a Cape silver sugar bowl and cover (c.1800 to 1811) sold for R164,150.

The Generations of Collecting sale included a fine assortment of early Cape paintings. Gwelo Goodman’s drawings and paintings attracted keen bids.

His Harbour with Table Mountain in the Distance sold for R128,975. Gregoire Boonzaier’s View of Table Bay, District Six (1973) sold for R346,575.

“We have witnessed something truly special, with precedents for Cape furniture that I haven’t seen in perhaps 15 years,” Strauss & Co executive director and senior auctioneer Bina Genovese said.

“The combination of team dedication, audience engagement, and the genuine passion we brought to the presentation created an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. I am very proud of the outcome.”

Two online-only sales helped push the headline earnings for Cape Town Auction Week to over R50 million. Celebrating Silver, a sale of collectable silver, achieved R1.7 million from 72 lots (96% sell-through).

Uncovered Classics, a jewellery sale, generated R1.5 million from 71 lots. Notable individual sales included an assembled set of Victorian silver flatware, sold for R187,600.

A yellow gold bracelet with 12 charms sold for R128,975, and a women’s Art Deco diamond cocktail wristwatch from the 1930s fetched R99,541.