V&A likely to return looted Asante gold treasures to Ghana
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Loading... - Kesse Anim
- 14 Sep 2022
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The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is likely to return Asante gold regalia to Ghana after a recent visit there by its director Tristram Hunt. These treasures had been seized during a British punitive raid in 1874.
Although international attention is now focused on the restitution of Benin bronzes to Nigeria from European and American collections, items from the Asante kingdom are arguably of equal significance. Together, Benin and Asante (now in Ghana) represent two of the greatest West African cultures. A return of treasures to Ghana by the V&A will inevitably increase pressure on the British Museum, which holds a much larger Asante collection.
The British colony of the Gold Coast was expanded in 1872 and conflicts then intensified with the Asante kingdom, which lay to the north. In January 1874 British troops entered Kumasi, the Asante capital. Queen Victoria’s forces looted and blew up the palace of the king (Asantehene), Kofi Karikari. They then demanded 50,000 ounces of gold, nominally to recover the expenses of the punitive raid. The seizure of the gold regalia stripped the Asante king of his symbols of government. Tensions continued over many years and further treasures were seized during later military campaigns in 1896 and 1900. Read More...
