Broekie-lace
South Africa has a unique name for the lace-like cast iron decorations. While the rest of the world just called it a "bracket", in South Africa it was called Broekie-lace. It is of course named so following the similarity of the side (lace) that was on women's panties (breeches) of the late 1800s.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, it was brought into South Africa by the English settlers, not only as reinforcing the pillars of the corrugated iron roofs but also to serve as decoration on the roof edges. It was very common on Victorian-style houses and can still be seen today on many house terraces, especially in the Western Cape and greater Karoo.
The cast iron "broekie-lace" was originally imported by companies such as McFarlane (catalogue example in photos). Later, local people copied designs from the catalogues and also made decor items for their porches with wood.
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