One of the Western Cape’s best-loved garden collections, at Vergelegen Wine Estate in Somerset West, is being further enhanced with exquisite, highly detailed mosaic artworks that reflect the botanical bounty of their surroundings.
Local Somerset West mosaic artist Romé Zurnamer has completed two works inspired by the colourful birds, plants, butterflies and insects that are abundant on the historic 323-year-old estate. She has now started a third Vergelegen artwork, with a fourth mosaic also in the pipeline.
Zurnamer created her first mosaic for Vergelegen in 2020, to complement a long, narrow water trough in the Sundial Garden near the Stables restaurant and wine tasting centre. This area was being replanted at the time and is abundant with varieties such as lavender, day lilies, galadia, verbascum and pineapple sage.
The intricate, colourful mosaics generated so much interest from visitors that Zurnamer was commissioned to decorate a drinking fountain, in the East Garden, next. This area is home to a vast collection of 15 000 blue, lilac, purple and white agapanthus flowers in 21 varietals, the colours and shapes of which are reflected in the mosaic panels.
The panels have now been attached and the drinking fountain installed.
Zurnamer is starting work on a larger, more colourful, eight-panelled drinking fountain near the children’s playground. This will reflect cosmos and agapanthus flowers, and birds, in a more colourful palette.
This fabrication should take two months to complete, after which The artist will start creating a 10-panelled installation, near the playground. This will portray tortoises, squirrels and other small creatures, which visitors often encounter while strolling around the property.
Zurnamer is a self-taught artist with no formal training, but has had a deep fascination with art for many years. She has explored a multitude of artistic platforms, ranging from abstract and fine art acrylic and oil paintings, to indoor and outdoor murals, before settling on mosaics.
She and her children have visited Vergelegen’s gardens for many years, and she still can’t believe her good fortune to be creating art works for these much-loved surroundings. “The water trough at Vergelegen was my first commission for a garden mosaic. It’s probably the most special project I’ve ever had. It’s been a wonderful opportunity.
“All my current work has led from that first Vergelegen commission. I’ve now found my niche in mosaic and it’s a medium I love.”
Zurnamer works with large sheets of stained glass, imported from Mexico, which she hand-cuts and sets against a background of reconstituted stone. This stone is slightly thicker than the glass, creating a three-dimensional effect. It also wraps around the glass’s sharp edges, making it safer for the playground area.
The artist’s other commissions include painted murals for the Somerset West night shelter, as part of its upliftment programme, and mosaic school crests for Bishops, Somerset House and St Cyprian’s Prep schools as leavers’ gifts.
Vergelegen is a provincial heritage site whose generous and intimate gardens span 10 ha and reflect the historical layers of the past 323 years. The gardens contrast the simple with the bold and the formal with the informal.
Visitors can view the mosaics at their leisure, or book a heritage and garden walking tour. This includes the gardens, significant trees, the historic homestead and library. The cost is R50 per person, with tours departing from the Wine Tasting Centre at 09:30 daily. For bookings, call 021 847 2122.
Vergelegen horticulturists Richard Arm and Chris Randlehoff say there is still much to enjoy in the gardens during the late summer months. The Octagonal Garden is renowned for two lengthy flowering borders, flanking the path leading to the historic homestead.
Another late summer star is the main Rose Garden near the camphor tree forest. It features 1 500 roses grouped around a central bronze sculpture of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and love. The David Austin Rose Garden, within the Octagonal Garden, is also enjoying a second flush of fragrant, full-petalled roses.
