September
Enchanted Worlds: The Timlin Collection
ONLINE AUCTION
4 - 18 September 2025
The Timlin Collection of paintings, watercolours, works on paper, and editioned prints by William Mitcheson Timlin was assembled by the artist’s brother, Clifford Timlin, also the architect of the William Humphreys Art Gallery in Kimberley, Northern Cape. Comprising 62 outstanding original works, the collection captures the remarkable breadth of Timlin’s imaginative output.
The collection later passed to Clifford’s daughter-in-law and grandchildren, before being offered to the market in 1987, when De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited acquired it and placed it on long-term loan to the William Humphreys Art Gallery (WHAG). For nearly four decades, the Timlin Collection, together with WHAG’s own holdings, represented the largest public collection of the artist’s work in South Africa.
Now, Aspire Art is delighted to present Enchanted Worlds: The Timlin Collection in its original entirety. Having remained under WHAG’s custodianship for almost forty years, the release of this collection by De Beers opens a rare opportunity for collectors worldwide to encounter and acquire these extraordinary artworks.
A British-born architect, illustrator and artist, William Mitcheson Timlin (1892–1943) made Kimberley his permanent home in 1912, at the age of twenty. He quickly became a central figure in the city’s cultural life – as a Founder Member of the Art Section of the Kimberley Athenaeum, a pioneering organisation that laid the groundwork for a permanent art gallery, and as a respected member of Kimberley’s architectural fraternity. Beyond these roles, he firmly established himself as a uniquely imaginative artist.
Timlin is best known for The Ship that Sailed to Mars (1923), the extraordinary fantasy book he both wrote and illustrated, and which today is considered a classic of early 20th-century fantastical illustration.
Alongside his architectural career, he produced enchanting paintings, watercolours, drawings and etchings that reveal his fascination with dreamlike realms. Often populated with ethereal figures, fantastical cities and otherworldly landscapes, his works reveal a mastery of delicate line and luminous colour, blended in a distinctive creative vision of architectural precision and whimsical fantasy.
Sale number: TCTO2025Location: Online Auction
Lots: 62
Shared Treasures: The Humphreys Collection Part 2
ONLINE AUCTION
4 - 18 September 2025
Step into the legacy of the Humphreys Collection and discover its rare treasures, from historical paintings to antique furniture, sculpture and objets d’art.
William Benbow Humphreys (1889–1965) was a Kimberley statesman, businessman and devoted patron of the arts, whose passion for collecting laid the foundation of one of South Africa’s most significant regional museums.
A keen traveller with a discerning eye, Humphreys acquired paintings, sculpture, furniture and objets d’art on frequent “picture-hunting” trips to Europe. His taste was classic yet eclectic, with a particular affinity for 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painting, complemented by British and French works of the same period. These he housed in a purpose-built gallery at his residence, Benbow Lodge.
Humphreys believed that art and beauty should not be a private luxury but a shared cultural treasure. In 1948, he made a landmark bequest, gifting a large portion of his collection to the people of Kimberley and the Northern Cape (then entrusted to the Northern Cape Technical College), on condition that a public gallery be established. He also pledged funds towards its construction.
The works and items chosen for this initial donation—selected by Dr Anton Hendricks, then Director of the Johannesburg Art Gallery—included Old Master European and British paintings, antique furniture, contemporary copies of classical sculpture, and other works of art.
In 1952, the William Humphreys Art Gallery (WHAG) was officially opened in Kimberley by Harry Oppenheimer, with the Humphreys Bequest forming the core of its holdings. Over subsequent decades, the collection was augmented by 20th-century South African artworks and objects, as well as further loans from Humphreys’ personal holdings, establishing the Humphreys Collection as a richly diverse assembly of works, showcasing a wide spectrum of artistic and cultural traditions.
This legacy was safeguarded and strengthened in 1971, when De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd generously acquired the Humphreys Collection and placed it on long-term loan to the Gallery, ensuring that the works remained in Kimberley for over half a century.
Following the cessation of the long term loan arrangement with the WHAG and in an historic transition De Beers is releasing the Humphreys Collection, entrusting the works of art, antique objects and furniture that were central to this historical legacy to a new generation of discerning collectors.
The Humphreys Collection, with its distinguished provenance and exceptional breadth, carries the gravitas of both local history and international collecting traditions, standing as one of South Africa’s most remarkable stories of generosity, vision, and cultural stewardship.
Sale number: TO4 Sept25
Location: Online Auction
Lots: 111
