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Click to view map Coordinates: | A small scale, symmetrical, Baker-style building under a hipped slate roof with triple arched loggia flanked on each side by a Ceramic Studio tiled panel by Isa CAMERON. Between the loggia and each of the rectangular glazed panels, is a fine, salt-glazed, Ceramic Studio pot; each pot mounted on a low, square quarry tiled plinth. An original wrought iron boot scraper has been partially concealed under a later concrete ramp. Another interesting architectural feature of the front facade are square buttresses, which bookend the building and extend the rectangular plane of this facade to the inside line of the gutter of both side facades. The left hand tiled panel depicts a scene of violence between two groups of Xhosa warriors in the foreground and the movement of large numbers of cattle in the background. The artist's initials, IC, are inscribed in the bottom left hand corner. Inscribed in the bottom right hand corner is the date of 1938 and THE CERAMIC STUDIO. The right hand tiled panel depicts a scene of a seated teacher - possibly a missionary - and his two female assistants, one of whom rings a school bell. They are surrounded by pupils, some of whom carry chalkboards. The middle ground depicts two structures; one a rectangular building with a pitched roof ; the other a traditional cone-on-cylinder 'rondawel'. The background depicts a rural landscape. The artist's initials, IC, are inscribed in the bottom left hand corner, next to a dog. Inscribed in the bottom right hand corner is THE CERAMIC STUDIO 1938 . The massing, architectural proportions, refined details and limited palette of materials used in the Post Office building are testament to the design skills of the architects of the Public Works Department at that time. The interior of the post office appears to have been completely modernized to accommodate a modern Post Office outlet. [William MARTINSON, January 2011] Books that reference Post Office
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