In the context of Statue of Paul Kruger, Church Square, explain the The making of the statue of the History.
Van Wouw set up shop in a studio in Rome shortly after arriving in Europe. Like other sculptors there, he hired artists to model his designs, but was dissatisfied in what he saw as a misunderstanding of the national character of a Transvaal Boer as depicted in the bas-reliefs. Admiring Boer valor in the First Boer War and the Jameson Raid, the Europeans depicted their facial features not as salt-of-the-earth but as possessing the ethereal qualities of a saint or a prophet, leading Van Wouw to opt for completing the work for himself out of frustration. He sought exacting detail, down to a single shoe, thereby taking three and a half months on just one of the Boer sentinels. Under these circumstances as well as that of chronic illness, the original deadline of 1 April 1899 came and went. Van Wouw advocated through State Secretary Willem Johannes Leyds and thereby won a year extension from Marks, whose business partner Lord Isaac Lewis's frequent progress checks betrayed someone "with no real idea of art" who "thought an artwork could be made with the same mentality as a board" in Van Wouw's estimation. The sculptor told Lewis "that I will never compromise Kruger's monument or my good name for any lucre." He wrote to his father shortly afterward:...they can work high or low, I will continue my work, do my duty, and try to fully convey my impression of the national character of the Transvaal people and their Kruger. After all, it would be ridiculous to sacrifice one's public work for a few months of profit. It would be worse if the work was a failure, but I am working that it may not be one. You or someone else must speak to Lord Marks about it, however, as I am right now facing this alone.
By May 1898, Van Wouw had finished three of the five planned plaster-cast models: the one of Kruger, standing 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in), and the two modern Boer sentinels, each 2.22 m (7 ft 3½ in) high. Kruger's right hand was shown on his cane and his left a rolled-up document, while he appeared to face down and to the left at a crowd at his feet; he starkly contrasts the tense Boers, one with a thick beard, head up, and his finger on the trigger of his Martini-Henry, the other with a thinner beard raising his shoulder to hoist a full bandolier. Van Wouw now needed to find a professional to cast them in bronze. He had queried the best casters in Holland shortly after arriving in Europe and settled on Royal Dutch Gold and Silver Workshop or J.M. van Kempen and Sons, who could not handle statues of this size, sending him on to Rome. On 21 May 1898, after six months there, he contracted with Franciscus Bruno to complete the entire work "in line with fashion and all rules of perfect art," the latter craftsman agreeing to cast in bronze all models completed in the next five months by 21 January 1899, as well as any finished in the five months after within three months of delivery. Also responsible for safe transport from Van Wouw's workshop to Bruno's forge and suitable packaging for shipping to South Africa, Bruno would be guaranteed 39,500 lire (at the time around £2,360), a quarter for delivering the Kruger figure itself, a quarter for that of two modern Boers, and the rest for completion and packaging of all castings. Van Wouw would be able to inspect the work at the foundry at any time.
Bruno had agreed with Van Wouw on using a 92% copper, 8% tin mixture for the bronze, while Van Wouw worked on the Voortrekkers and the bas-reliefs. He had eight months to plaster-cast the Voortrekkers: one with his left elbow on his knee, his chin folded in his hands, and a gun's muzzle on the ground with its butt-stock on his right leg; the other with a long beard and a few wrinkles on his forehead, seated upright with his gun in both hands. The modeling work was done in 1899, along with the casting for three of the five pieces, allowing Van Wouw to pivot to the panels - one of which had already been finished by the end of 1898. It is unknown how long the remaining three took: from his letters, Van Wouw appears to have finished all of them, including decorative ornaments (such as a large "K" monogram) by June 1899. Overseeing the rest of the casting, he returned to Pretoria in September–October of that year, where he would oversee the erection of the statue and fulfill the second portion of his contract with Marks.
Willem Johannes Leyds Boer Rome lire Pretoria South Africa Voortrekker beard bronze Jameson Raid cane First Boer War bandolier bas-relief Royal Dutch Gold and Silver Workshop or J.M. van Kempen and Sons Boers