What: A golden chalice, made around 1735-1740

Where: The Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Rd, Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RL

The catalogue entry says the chalice “was deposited at the South Kensington Museum (later renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum) by H.M. Treasury in 1872”.

An inscription on the chalice says: “The chalice was taken by British troops at the siege of Maqdala (Magdala) in 1868. This is the chalice of our King Iyyasu, whose throne name is Adyam Saggard, and of our Empress Walatta Giyorgis, Berhan Mogasa, which they gave to the tabot of Qwesqwam [that is, the church in which the tabot was preserved] so that it might be for them salvation of body and soul.”

Museum number:
M.26-2005