Bow & 5 Arrows – Ganguela – Southern Angola (Circa 1971)

The Rudner Collection

Jalmar Rudner was a town planner by profession, but his true passion was anthropology and ethnography. Over five decades of research and fieldwork, he and his wife Ione traversed southern Africa to study and record the continent’s remarkable rock art.

In the mid-19th century Jalmar and Ione undertook dozens of expeditions traversing southern Africa as far north as Angola and Zimbabwe. During their pioneering fieldwork the Rudner’s sourced artifacts from across the region, and enjoyed unique access to ancient and sacred cultural ceremonies.

In 1956 Jalmar was appointed honorary archaeologist at the South African Museum where he was instrumental in establishing the Rock Art Recording Centre to coordinate the preservation of these national treasures. Together with Ione, their meticulous fieldwork culminated in the release of their seminal book, ‘The Hunter and His Art; a Survey of Rock Art in Southern Africa’. Published in 1970, this groundbreaking volume was one of the first comprehensive studies on the subject.

A large portion of their San artifacts form the Rudner Collection on display at the Bushmans Kloof Heritage Centre in the Cederberg Mountains, while Jalmars Rock Art tracings and replications are on display at the Sanbona Reserve near Barrydale in the Cape.

The artefacts on this page are part of the collection that still remains at the family home.