For the V&A’S latest show... shamelessly looted treasure
Exhibition of artefacts stolen from Ethiopia by British soldiers in 1868, may revive diplomatic row
THE V&A is to stage an exhibition of looted treasures from Ethiopia, reviving a diplomatic row over a controversial episode in British military history.
The royal and religious artefacts were plundered during the Battle of Magdala in 1868, when a British expeditionary force laid siege to the mountain fortress of Emperor Tewodros II in what was then Abyssinia.
So enormous was the haul that 15 elephants and 200 mules were required to carry it away.
Ethiopia has repeatedly asked for the collection’s return, but the pleas have gone unanswered.
Tristram Hunt, the V&A’S new director, has decided to “shine a light on this collection’s controversial history” and reopen the debate by putting 20 objects on show to mark the 150th anniversary of the battle. They include a gold crown embossed with images of the Apostles, a sold gold chalice, a selection of jewellery and a wedding dress thought to have belonged to Queen Terunesh, the emperor’s wife.
The display will also include the text of a speech given by William Gladstone to Parliament in 1872, in which he “deeply regretted” that the treasures had been taken from their homeland.
The British “were never at war with Abyssinia”, he said, expressing sorrow that items so sacred to the Abyssinians “were thought fit to be brought away by the British Army”.
Announcing details of the exhibition yesterday, Mr Hunt said: “As custodians of a number of important Ethiopian objects taken from Magdala by the British military 150 years ago, we have a responsibility to celebrate the beauty of their craftsmanship, reflect on their modern meaning, and shine a light on this collection’s controversial history.”
He is also “open to the idea” of a longterm loan of the objects to Ethiopia for the first time.
A V&A spokesman said: “In this exhibition we will be frank about how these
objects came into the collections – that they were war loot.” In 2008, Girma Wolde-giorgis, Ethiopia’s then president, wrote to the V&A, British Museum, British Library and Cambridge University Library seeking restitution.
“Ethiopians have long grieved at the loss of this part of their national heritage. “Ethiopians feel that this act of appropriation had no justification in international law. I feel, therefore, that the time has come for the return of Ethiopia’s looted treasures,” he said. His efforts failed. The 1868 expedition led by Lt-gen Sir Robert Napier was mounted after Tewodros, a Coptic Christian ruler, took European hostages including the British consul, in protest at Britain’s refusal to acknowledge his requests for military assistance against his enemies.
He was defeated – committing suicide during the battle rather than be captured – and his fortress ransacked, along with a church housing precious manuscripts.
The exhibition will feature a photographic portrait taken by Julia Margaret Cameron of Prince Alemayehu, the emperor’s son, and will tell his tragic story.
His seven-year-old son was transported to Britain, where he was introduced to Queen Victoria.
He spent nine miserable years at Rugby School and less than a term at Sandhurst, before dying of pleurisy at 18 in the home of his old tutor in Yorkshire.
The Association for the Return of the Magdala Ethiopian Treasures has been campaigning for many years.
Magdala 1868 will run from April 5 to July 2019.