The Goldsmith from Jo'burg

(courtesy Sarah Springham)

I got this morning an unexpected gift: two images of a bangle created by Kurt Jobst, the inside view and the outside. The image of the inside is fabulous: a whole universe is there, and Jupiter Tonans seems to be in near proximity, in command of the sun set and dawn, of storm and thunder, of terrifying clouds. The signature of Kurt Jobst is there too, and it seems very fit to the place: like jumping cheerfully in this cosmic endeavor. The image of the outside seems in turn to carry a kind of distinguished restraint: like its task would be to hide the treasures from inside.

These two images mark for me the completion of a circular story: they have been sent by the same person whose question started my search for data about Jobst.

(courtesy Sarah Springham)

It was by pure chance that I heard first time about Kurt Jobst, goldsmith and silversmith from Johannesburg. A message posted on a web forum, signed Sarah Springham: she had acquired a bangle crafted by Jobst and wanted to know more about the artist.

I started to search on the web, just for fun, but I became very quickly passionate. Data about him were scarce and there was no image of any of his works. What I found were some indirect references in catalogs of libraries or antiquarians; then I was able to find some direct references, very succinct, in some art journals and dictionaries.

My search produced some basic info: Kurt Jobst had been born in 1905 in Austria, he had spent the first part of his life in Germany where he had become known in the thirties for some remarkable pieces of jewelry, he had left Europe in 1935 and had settled in South Africa; since then he had lived in Johannesburg where he had passed away in 1971; Nobel Prize laureate Nadine Gordimer had known him well and had kept Jobst in high esteem.

Nadine Gordimer wrote about him and had a great phrase, that he gave Jo'burg some style. A book about him was published in 1979, seemingly by his sons (Dieter and Arno Jobst). The book had an appreciation written by Nadine Gordimer.

I put all this info here on the blog. To me the story seemed unfulfilled: the only personal detail that I had found was the phrase Nadine Gordimer had written about him.

I got very soon a comment on my post, from Irene Lash, who owned a gold bangle crafted by Jobst in 1970. The bangle bore an inscription (everything is difficult before it becomes easy, have patience), along with the signature of Jobst, and with a date: October 9. It was a present for her birthday! Irene had known Jobst, though she never met him: they had been pen-pals in the late sixties.

Kurt was telling Irene in their correspondence about his avatars with Tarquinius, his son. He was fighting for his custody and even considered kidnapping the boy!

This way Tarquinius entered the scene, which confused me a little: I had assumed that Kurt Jobst had had Dieter and Arno as his only sons (the guys who had written the book about him in 1979). Now here was this Tarquinius, with quite a story, and what a story!

Irene was living in the sixties in Jerusalem and intended to visit Jobst in Johannesburg, when he unexpectedly died in a car accident.

I felt immediately the impulse to find more about Kurt Jobst. I started a new search on the web for images of his works, and what I got were these two concertinas!






Had he been also a constructor of accordions!? No, this was just another Kurt Jobst, a manufacturer of bandoneons and concertinas from Brunndöbra, Germany. This second Jobst started in 1920 a small business for musical instruments and became pretty known: I found him mentioned even on a Taiwanese blog!



(I tried a translation of the Chinese text, using the Babelfish, and here's what I got: After Uhlig, some people continued to attempt increasing the pressed key number, some 102 sound's concertinas (the so-called Scheffler concertina), and Kurt Jobst has manufactured 124 sound concertinas).

This was not the same Kurt Jobst, of course: the guy from Brunndöbra had started his musical business in 1920, when the future gold and silversmith was just 11 years old. So I left this trace and went on with my search for data about the jeweler.

As I was looking for new info I got a new comment on the blog, from Arizona. It was signed Sandy Lutrin: she had the book about Jobst (the one published in 1979, by Dieter and Arno Jobst, with the appreciation by Nadine Gordimer). Sandy had lived in the sixties in Johannesburg, and had been the governess of Tarquinius!

Jobst had come from Europe with his wife (Lotte) and they had four kids: two daughters, Angelica and Katherine, and two sons, Dieter and Arno . At some point Kurt and Lotte divorced.

After a couple of years Kurt befriended a young Belgian lady (Lisa Tyberghein) and they had a child, Tarquinius. The relationship did not last too long and Lisa returned to Brussels, taking also the son.

Kurt could not resist to be far from Tarquinius, and he went to Belgium, took the kid and brought him back to Johannesburg. This was of course a kidnapping on all accounts! So the mother applied to the court and the trial took some months, while Tarquinius was staying with his father.

It was during those months that Kurt hired Sandy (the lady living now in Arizona) as governess for Tarquinius, and the three of them lived together at 7 Queens Road, Parktown (a house that no longer exists).

Kurt was a very interesting person. He had some oddities (like taking astrology very seriously, to the point that he hired Sandy only after consulting her horoscope), but in all he was a great guy. He loved to be surrounded by friends from the intellectual elite of Johannesburg and entertained lavishly. Nadine Gordimer and her husband Reinhold Cassirer were often among the invitees. Kurt was an excellent chef and always presented the governess of Tarquinius with these words, let me introduce Sandy, who, unfortunately, is not my mistress, but my son's.

Tarquinius was 7 by that time; after some months his mother succeeded to get the custody and took him back to Europe. By the way, the full name of the boy was really something: Tarquinius Superbus Tyberghein Jobst von Maeren!

All this info was great stuff for me. Things started to fit nicely together: I had now a vivid portrait of Kurt Jobst , and I was understanding very well the words of Nadine Gordimer, the Nobel laureate, that he gave Jo'burg some style. It was that he brought there the Viennese elegance and joie de vivre!

All missing points from my story, all white spots, were starting now to be filled. Jobst had died prematurely in a car accident; Reinhold Cassirer, whose name was mentioned in the first reference I had found (the Lilly Library Catalog of Nadine Gordimer papers) was the husband of Nadine (this Cassirer was an impressive personality in his own right, with a profound influence on the development of fine arts in his country: it was he who established Sotheby's in South Africa in 1969).

What I still missed were images of Jobst's works. After an assiduous search I succeeded to find one image, a nice piece of art:

And in the same time I found a description of another of his works, along with a mention of one of his two daughters, Katherine! She has graduated from Redhill School, sometime in the late forties. I'm mentioning here the description of a jewel though I don't have the image, because it has also an interesting story: a Pamela Baas, who graduated at Redhill in 1948, donated her Honour Award to the school: a brooch/pendant in silver of the school crest - a trowel with wings inlaid with red transparent enamel, with the motto Free to Build - made by Kurt Jobst.

And, at the point that my story was starting to become a bit too bushy, I got an eMail from Sarah Springham (the person who had started the whole, by asking for some data about Kurt Jobst). Her eMail contained the two great images that I have put at the beginning of this story.

-----------------------------------------------------------

And this is the story of the Goldsmith from Jo'burg: Kurt Jobst, a man of great talent and of great heart; a life that left solid traces, generous memories spanned from Austria to South Africa, from Johannesburg to Jerusalem, to UK, to Arizona.

I would like to thank here the three ladies who made my story possible: Irene Lash, Sandy Lutrin, Sarah Springham.

Sandy sent me some fragments from the book about Kurt Jobst and I want to share them with you all: so I have put the fragments in a separate post on this blog.

(Avangarda 20)

(Nadine Gordimer)