Zulu warriors and European gold miners, Klerksdorp, Transvaal, circa 1895.

Two gelatin silver photographs mounted recto and verso of a cabinet card, 165 x 108 mm, recto with animated scene of a Zulu warrior dancing in front of the camera with several other dancers in the background, image 150 x 103 mm, inscribed in contemporary hand in ink across lower margin: Frazier / Klerksdorp. S.A.R. [South African Republic], image in good condition with some very mild foxing; verso with four European miners posing in front of mining machinery, image 75 x 97 mm, inscribed in contemporary hand in ink to mount: ‘South African kangaroo cub on this chap’s lap / Observe the kitten on this fellow’s lap / Ma. Sel. & Venus‘, image a little faded.

The acronym S.A.R. refers to the political entity known as the South African Republic, often called the Transvaal Republic. This was the Boer state first created in 1852, which was independent from Britain between 1881 and 1900. Gold was discovered at Klerksdorp in 1886, and a gold rush in the area lasted until the late 1890s. These factors, as well as the use of the gelatin silver process and the dress of the miners in the second image, allow the photographs to be dated fairly accurately to between 1895 and 1900.