Historical apple tree in Cape Town, South Africa - Variety?

[honoregasa]

Hi

Here is a challenge.

We live in an area that was originally farmland in the mid to late 1600's in Cape Town, South Africa. The land was given to farmers by Jan van Riebeeck (Dutch East India Company) to keep livestock and grow fruit and vegetables for passing ships. The farms were along the Liesbeeck River in Cape Town and we are in the Rondebosch area.

We have an old apple tree in our garden which is coming to the end of its life. The good news is that a heritage apple farm has managed to propagate 25 new trees from cuttings of this original tree. However, we are all at a loss as to what kind of apple it is. We would love to know!!

This is a real challenge for the officianado's. Would love to hear from you if you have any ideas!

[missnynke]

Looks like a Cox Pomona or Mére de Menage (also called Koningin Emma in dutch)
Does the color get orange-red or more purple when fully ripe?