Saddlery, masonry, cabinet-making, wood-work, carpentry work, and plastering, such as in gables and pediments, have long been skills associated with slave craftsmen – especially those of South East Asian descent – and their descendants in the Cape. The actual manufacture of the Tuynhuys door as well as the construction of the building is shrouded in the mists of time and history. Yet research on slave history in the Cape give insights from which it is possible to make an informed deduction.
Saddlery, masonry, cabinet-making, woodworking, carpentry work, and plastering, such as in gables and pediments, have long been skills associated with enslaved craftsmen – especially those of Southeast Asian descent – and their descendants in the Cape. The actual production of the Tuynhuys door, as well as the construction of the building, is shrouded in the mists of time and history. However, research on slave history in the Cape provides insights from which it is possible to make an informed deduction.