The sale of an Ethiopian shield, believed looted by British forces at Maqdala in 1868 and sent to auction at Anderson & Garland in Newcastle upon Tyne, has been withdrawn from sale.

The auctioneers' decision follows lobbying by the Ethiopian Heritage Authority, the legally mandated organisation responsible for the preservation, protection and promotion of Ethiopia's cultural heritage. In a statement, the auctioneers said they would be referring the matter back to the vendor for their consideration. The Authority has said it “appreciates Anderson & Garland and the present custodians of the shield for their wise decision to withdraw the shield from the auction and start negotiations for its repatriation.”

The shield is typical of other Abyssinian (Ethiopian) shields of the 19^th century, circular in shape with a central boss, made from hide with white metal strapwork and floral appliquets. It’s engraved with an inscription that reads “Magdala 13^th April 1868”. This is the date that a British expeditionary force of 13,000 troops, led by General Sir Robert Napier, captured Emperor Tewodros’s mountain fortress at Maqdala, leading the emperor to take his own life.

Offered for sale at auction on the 29th February with a modest estimate of £800-£1,200, we've seen no other information about its history of ownership to confirm this provenance. However, it’s certainly Abyssinian in origin and not unlike another Abyssinian shield repatriated to Ethiopia in 2021. It was very likely acquired by a soldier or another member of Napier’s Abyssinian expedition (1867-68) when the mountain fortress at Maqdala was overpowered on the 13th April 1868.

It turns out, this shield is one three Abyssinian shields offered for sale this month. Two further 19th century shields are being offered online from Sarzana in Italy (live auction 21-22 March): a circular shield, made of leather with mounts made of silver foil and studs, and another, a dome leather shield, covered with velvet and gilt silver mounts, the property of a member of Emperor Menelik II's court. 

The repatriation of the Newcastle shield is not yet guaranteed, but the Ethiopian Heritage Authority says it’s “eager to initiate a constructive dialogue aimed at securing an outcome that will see this treasured item return to its homeland and its legitimate owners, the people and Government of Ethiopia.”

There’s a growing momentum behind the return of artefacts looted during the Maqdala campaign. This month, the Dean of Westminster Abbey announced the Abbey has agreed “in principle” to return their sacred Tabot, which is currently sealed into the back of its Lady Chapel altar. Another Tabot, also believed to have been looted during the Maqdala campaign, was returned last September to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, along with other Abyssinian artefacts, at a ceremony held by the private, non-profit Scheherazade Foundation.

Returning Heritage’s own campaign to secure the repatriation of eleven Tabots in the British Museum’s collection is also gathering momentum and news of developments in this campaign will be published here shortly.

Background to the Battle of Maqdala

For many years, the Ethiopian Government has lobbied for the return of hundreds of looted religious, cultural and historical items held in British collections - royal and religious regalia, Tabots (sacred plaques believed by Ethiopian Christians to symbolise the Ark of the Covenant), illuminated manuscripts and ‘human remains’ - seized by troops during a punitive expedition by the British to Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia). 

The episode is a little known and inglorious chapter in British imperial history, also one of its most ambitious and expensive campaigns.

In 1867, an overwhelming army of 13,000 British troops under General Sir Robert Napier was despatched from India to rescue a handful of Europeans (including the British Consul), held hostage for several years by the Abyssinian Emperor Tewodros II. The campaign involved an impressive logistical operation, including the construction of roads and a railway across 400 miles of mountainous terrain.  It took over three months for Napier's expedition to reach Tewodros's mountain fortress at Maqdala (now known as Amba Mariam).  The tragedy which then unfolded involved the crushing defeat of the Emperor’s army, followed by the seizure of Maqdala on the 13th April 1868 and the suicide of the Emperor using a gun presented to him by Queen Victoria. 

Widespread looting by soldiers at Maqdala and at the Christian church at Medhane Alem followed the battle.  A clear act of sacrilege, this looting has been largely ignored in military narratives about the campaign.  Newspaper journalists who were present, including the Anglo-American journalist Henry M. Stanley, witnessed British soldiers tearing strips off the Emperor’s clothing and a soldier cutting locks of hair from the dead Emperor’s body.

Collecting trophies of war and their distribution as ‘prize money’ was common among armies during the colonial era. But the unedifying involvement of the British Museum's trustees by supporting the expedition with the aim of acquiring items for British national collections was described by its former Director, David Wilson, as ‘one of the less glorious episodes in the history of the Museum’. *

On the orders of General Napier, the British military authorities organised a two-day auction of plundered items just days after the looting had finished.  It is said that fifteen elephants and nearly two hundred mules were deployed to transport the plunder to the site of the auction. The proceeds, totalling £5,000, were then shared among the troops, according to rank, as ‘prize money’ - a reward payment for a successful campaign. 

Among those present throughout this auction was Richard (later Sir Richard) Holmes, an Assistant in the British Museum’s Manuscript Department who’d been appointed as ‘competent archaeologist’ to the expedition. Holmes aggressively bid and secured over 300 manuscripts on behalf of the Museum, as well as other royal artefacts removed from the Emperor’s treasury. He was later awarded both an ex gratia payment by the Museum’s trustees and a campaign medal.

Even the British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, criticised the scale of this looting. Gladstone and Napier both felt the looted items should be held in Britain only until they could be returned safely to Ethiopia. Apparently, that time has never arrived.

Of the many hundreds of items known to have been seized following the battle, only a few have been returned to Ethiopia.  The earliest restitutions include a Kebra Nagast (Book of Kings), returned following a request from Emperor Yohannes in 1872 and a silver crown, presented to Ras Teferi in 1924 by King George V.  Other returns have been made by private individuals.  Meanwhile, about a dozen UK institutions plus several private collections hold many other major items of sacred, historic or cultural importance to Ethiopia, acquired through purchase, bequest or gift following the auction. These institutions include the British Museum, British Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, Royal Library at Windsor Castle, Bodleian Library, Edinburgh University Library, John Rylands University Library, Manchester, Westminster Abbey and several regimental museums.

* David M Wilson, The British Museum: A History (British Museum Press, 2002), p. 173-4

Photo: Abyssinian Shield, 19^th century

Courtesy of Anderson & Garland