Publications
Partners
Statue of snake charmer Never Die
A rare bust of East London snake charmer and conservationist Never
Die has gone on sale on Gumtree.co.za this week for R27 000.
Very little information has been recorded about Never Die. He was
known to produce a MacIntosh toffee can or large bottle from his bag – filled
with unusual spiders, snakes, scorpions or bugs – and attempt to sell his
specimens to passing sailors.
When he failed to obtain a buyer, he would deftly and casually
demonstrate the proper treatment of a snakebite by pulling a venomous snake from
his bag and permitting it to strike his arm.
Sometimes he would suck out the poison, sometimes he wouldn’t. He
was, according to eyewitnesses (and Never Die himself) entirely immune against
any form of venom, hence his name.
Never Die was believed to have been born in 1846 in Gonubie. Like
most preteen boys, Never Die was a cowherd for his father’s cattle and it is
conceivable that he spent his time in the veld studying the snakes and spiders
that would make him famous.
Never Die attributed his immunity to his father, who supposedly fed
him the liquid taken from the gallbladders of snakes since he was a small boy,
although he also regularly drank a tincture of N’Deda Mabela – the bark of a
lemon tree – as an anti-venom.
The twin statues had been made by Dorothy Randell, wife of famous
Grahamstown advocate George Randell, before his death.
One was passed down to Mandy Walker, the seller, and the other
currently resides in the library of the East London museum.
Walker says that she would love for the statue to “go to someone
who will appreciate it” and that she has already received queries from
prospective buyers.
“We regularly see rare statues go up for sale on Gumtree, but these
sculptures have played an important role in the conservation of Never Die’s
legacy and were crafted with real affection. We hope it finds the right home,”
said Claire Cobbledick, Head of Marketing for Gumtree South Africa.
Never Die’s body was found in the brush close to the Buffalo River
bridge on January 31 1931, roughly five weeks after his passing. His beloved
toffee can was used to identify him.
Cobbledick described the artwork as uniquely South African. Its
twin can be viewed on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons in the East
London museum.
