Page 81 - Bulletin 9 2005

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Alphen Hotel in Constantia has Ceramic Studio tiles depicting historical subjects around a

fireplace in one of its lounges. It also has Della Robbia roundels in the courtyard outside the
reception area and tiles in some of the bathrooms. (Figs. 2.14 & 2.15.) Linnware tiles also

occur in Cape Town in various houses and other private buildings not open to the public.

The studio obtained many other public and private commissions during the 1920s and 1930s,
some of the most important being panels on historical themes for more than 45 new post

offices and other government buildings. These illustrate scenes of local historical relevance

or portray subjects related to the use of the buildings. (Figs 2.16 & 2.17.) In the Western
Cape, exterior panels can be seen at the following post offices, or former post offices:

Muizenberg (which also has small panels inside), St James, Kalk Bay, Noordhoek, and

Gordon's Bay. (Figs 2.18 – 2.32.) Most of these works still survive, but demolition has
unfortunately taken its toll and some of the remaining panels are now vulnerable. Other major

public commissions included pictorial panels and individual tiles for the children's wards and
playrooms at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town and similar works for hospitals

elsewhere in the country. Regrettably, some of these have also been lost during rebuilding
and others are now seriously at risk. Fortunately, when the children’s wards at Groote Schuur

were demolished in the 1980s to make way for the new hospital, most of the tiles were saved

and now hang in the central passageway on the ground floor, (Fig. 2.33) but others are also
on display in areas not open to the public and may only be viewed by arrangement with the

hospital's public relations department.

While the designs for individual tiles and most of the panels were developed by the staff