Three Zanzibar Paintings

Hanging in the hall of our house are three paintings which date back to my parents' time in Zanzibar in the 1930s and 40s, to the years when they met and married. All are water colours of street scenes in what is generally known as Stone Town.

I 'inherited' them from my mother after she died in Hastings, the pictures being of such importance to her that she chose them to hang in her room in the 'home' where she subsequently died. Perhaps it is for this reason that I took them on the day we cleared her room, and have not only kept them but have also re-framed them.

My connection to them is so tenuous that I have never seen the place depicted in this first picture, nor have I found a picture of this scene on the internet. Fortunately, my mother made a list of all her possessions before she went into the care home, and she writes of this, "Zanzibar. Painted by 'Pony' Smith from steps of the Surgical Hall looking towards Dr Coppy's house. Wedding present to C & H" - Cecil & Helen, my parents.

The second is also described briefly in her document: "Archway and view of Book Club painted by an Arab and given to C & H by Win Rice." I have searched the internet for photographs which show this view today, and found one which might be of it which refers to a 'Portuguese garden'. This is located near Victoria Garden in Stone Town between Vuga Rd. and Malindi Rd.. Sadly, I have found no view of the garden itself.

I have written before about this one - see blog post here - and it is the most important of the three as my mother was passing this door in a car driven by her great friend Bunch Jones when she noticed a man standing on the steps of what was, in those days, the English Club, and her companion hailed him as 'Cecil'. It was the first time my mother saw my father.

The trouble with objects such as these is that, while I have a connection to them back over the decades, no-one else would have any interest in them, so when I die they will probably be consigned to the corporation dump.