Coopering was brought to the Cape during the seventeenth century by the Dutch East India Company and was a highly specialised trade.
Casks were constructed from rough staves using tools like axes, adzes, truss drivers, hammers, augers and drawknives. Casks were made for special purposes such as foodstuffs, liquids and gunpowder. Coopers also made vessels that were used in the home or on the farm like pails, butter churns and tubs. Many household coopered articles are displayed in the kitchen and pantries of the Drostdy and Mayville