Bronze Leopard

5 Ginger - 3 weeks ago

Amazing place, my visit was so refreshing, went for Lake of stars????

5 Richard Ball - 3 weeks ago

My understanding is that the sculptor of this remarkable work of art wanted to memorialize the last wild leopard shot in Hout Bay.

So it is an immensely sad commentary on the damage we have done to our environment.

The leopard looks up to sea and and senses that eternal extinction awaits his species

A sad and salutary tale.

4 Roelf van der Merwe - 5 years ago

I have no idea why it's here, but it's interesting and beautiful.

5 Lloyd De Jongh - 4 years ago

Driving towards Chapman’s Peak from Hout Bay, as you rise up from Main Road, to your right you will see the Hout Bay bronze leopard. Completed in 1963, this memorial was sculpted by Ivan Mitford-Barberton.

Born in Somerset East, South Africa in 1896, he was a descendant of several 1820 Settler families. Mitford-Barberton was an active member of the South African Society of Arts and taught art at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town.

He designed the Jock of the Bushveld monument in Barberton, a town co-founded by his ancestors. He also sculpted the statue of Peter Pan at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town.

Weighing 295kg, the leopard statue was placed on its pedestal by the Divisional Council on 14th March 1963. Pepsi-Cola supported the project and donated the bronze. The sculpture is a memorial to the many wild animals that once roamed the mountains of the peninsula. The last leopard seen in Hout Bay was in 1937 on Little Lion’s Head.

Ivan Mitford-Barberton died in Hout Bay in 1976.

5 Jacques van Vuuren - 3 years ago

A stunning display of artistry trough a combination of contrasting elements. Beautiful!

4 Ladislav Žalio - 3 years ago

Quite interesting to see this here.

5 Watson Kubheka - 4 years ago

Beautiful.......what a view!