The Prince and the Plunder

A book on how Britain took one boy and piles of treasures from Ethiopia

Category: Royal regalia

Queen Terunesh’s golden hairpin

Published June 11, 2025 / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

Put up for sale by Bertolami Fire Art in its auction CURIOSITIES FROM EUROPEAN AND ORIENTAL ART SILVERS, IVORIES, CORALS, ICONS AND WUNDERKAMMER PALAZZO CAETANI LOVATELLI, ROME, WED 11 JUNE 2025

175

Gold hairpin that belonged to Tiruwork Wube, Ethiopia, 19th century

height x width x depth box: 3 x 21 x 7 cm. Total weight with box: 205 g.

in gold, housed in its original vintage box, lined with red velvet inside. The lid, fitted with a protective glass, allows the jewel to be admired without removing it. Applied to the glass, a contemporary descriptive cartouche reads:

“Hair pin – worn by Ioronech – wife of king Theodore X – daughter of the king of Tigre, bought from Abyginia by D. J. Sinclain, 33, Regt. 1868”. This inscription attributes the clasp to Ioronech, wife of king Theodore X of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and daughter of the king of the kingdom of Iigre, and links it historically to its purchase by a British officer, D. J. Sinclain of the 33rd regiment, during the 1868 British campaign in Abyssinia. The clasp has a multi-layered structure: it alternates smooth circular elements with decorated worked discs, creating an interplay of volumes and textures. Crowning the composition is an openwork spherical element. A transverse bar is welded onto these elements, to which hanging chains are welded, terminating in movable conical elements. 

There are no reliable historical sources on a figure called “Ioronech”, nor on a “King Theodore X”. It is most likely a reference to Theodore II, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 to 1868. His second wife, Tiruwork Wube, was the daughter of the governor of the Tigré region, so the indication in the cartouche “daughter of the king of Tigre” seems plausible and consistent with known historical facts.

During the British expedition of 1868 to Abyssinia, many objects belonging to the imperial court and the Ethiopian nobility were brought to England; the brooch in question could be one of these rare specimens, related to a Tigrean princess who became empress.

Estimate: € 700,00 / 900,00

Starting price: € 440,00

Posted In Adornments & jewelry | Said to belong to the queen
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Queen Sabazadis’ necklace

Published June 18, 2024 / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: Necklace belonged to “Queen Sabazadis”, described as the emperor’s wife

Where: The National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 4HT

The database entry describes a “necklace, 1868 (c); belonged to Queen Sabazadis, the wife of King Theodore of Abyssinia; owned by Lt C F James, Bombay Staff Corps and possibly 2nd (The Queen’s Royal) Regiment of Foot; leather, crystal, silver, glass and brass beads, threaded on string; associated with Abyssinia (1868).

Detail
1959-10-79

Posted In Royal regalia | Said to belong to the queen | The Plunder
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Green silk and leather belt

Published June 18, 2024 / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: Belt taken by the British Museum’s expert on the expedition, Richard Rivington Holmes

Where: The British Museum, Great Russell St, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3DG

Provenance: Maqdala referenced at length in the museum’s acquisition notes.

The catalogue entry reads: 

“Waist belt made of leather with green silk brocade stitched to the front surface using silk thread, lined with red silk on the inner surface; remnant of a further yellow silk lining is evident around the inner edge. The yellow lining would have covered the inner surface and edged the front of the belt. The belt is decorated with circular, domed buttons made of silver [?] and brass, stitched in linear patterns across the outer surface. Two large silver-gilt repoussé clasps decorated with floral motifs are stitched into either end of the belt.”

Acquisition notes: Richard Rivington Holmes, an assistant in the manuscripts department of The British Museum, had accompanied the expedition as an archaeologist. He acquired a number of objects for the British Museum, including around 300 manuscripts which are now housed in the British Library. In 1868 the Secretary of State for India, Sir Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh, donated to The British Museum two further collections of material from Maqdala.

Details
Museum number: Af1868,1001.2
Date: 19thC
Length: 99 cm
Width: 13 cm
Previous owner/ex-collection: Sir Richard Rivington Holmes biography
Acquisition date: 1868

Posted In Adornments & jewelry | Royal regalia | The Plunder
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A pair of anklets

Published June 18, 2024 / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: A pair of silver anklets taken by the British Museum’s expert on the expedition, Richard Rivington Holmes

Where: The British Museum, Great Russell St, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3DG

Provenance: Maqdala referenced at length in the museum’s acquisition notes.

The catalogue entry reads: 

“Pair of woman’s anklets,Yïgïr Ambar, made of silver and silver gilt. Each anklet is made from a band of silver in three sections which are joined in two places with pinned hinges. The external surface of the anklet is overlaid with two bands of fine silver-gilt filigree work riveted in place with eight silver studs. It has three bands of silver gilt spheres set within bands of corded wire. The bottom edge of the anklet is decorated with a fringe of silver chains each ending in small conical bells.”

Curator’s comments:

“These type of anklets were worn exclusively by high ranking Christian women. Gold or gilded silver could only be worn with the permission of the Emperor. Most gold was locally sourced, but much of the silver was obtained by melting down imported Maria Theresa Thalers.
The small conical bells, commonly found on Christian Ethiopian jewellery, are believed to ward of demons with they tinkling sound.”

Details
Museum number: Af1868,1001.3.a-b
Date: 19thC
Previous owner/ex-collection: Sir Richard Rivington Holmes
Acquisition date: 1868
Anklet 1 – Height: 10 cm; Width: 7.5 cm; Depth: 7.5 cm
Anklet 2 – Height: 10.5 cm; Width: 8 cm; Depth: 7.5 cm

Posted In Adornments & jewelry | The Plunder
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The British Museum robe

Published June 18, 2024 / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: Robe taken by the British Museum’s expert on the expedition, Richard Rivington Holmes

Where: The British Museum, Great Russell St, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3DG

Provenance: Maqdala referenced at length in the museum’s acquisition notes.

This appears to be at one of a group of similar robes, cloaks or mantles from Magdala currently split up in the store rooms of The British Museum, The Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and The Ethnological Museum of Berlin. See the ones we have tracked down here.

The Berlin database entry, which has several detailed images, gives details on the collection and suggests Emperor Tewodros initially commissioned them to send as presents to Queen Victoria.

The British Museum catalogue entry reads:

“Robe made of silk with embroidered designs in silk thread. The robe has appliqued filigree and repoussé worked silver gilt ornaments.”

Museum number: Af1868,1001.23
Date: 19thC
Condition: Fragile
Previous owner/ex-collection: Sir Richard Rivington Holmes
Acquisition date: 1868

Posted In Royal regalia | The Plunder | Victoria's robes
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Silver gilt drinking cup

Published June 18, 2024 / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: Silver gilt drinking cup taken by the British Museum’s expert on the expedition, Richard Rivington Holmes

Where: The British Museum, Great Russell St, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3DG

Provenance: Maqdala referenced at length in the museum’s acquisition notes.

The catalogue entry reads:

“Drinking cup made of silver gilt with narrower base tapering to a wider rim. The cup is formed from one sheet of repoussé worked silver, soldered along one length and to a circular base of pain silver. The outer surface is decorated with round topped columns of alternating plain, chevron and lozenged shaped decorations. Additional crescent and circular motifs have been punched onto the surface.”

Details
Museum number: Af1868,1001.9
Date: 19thC
Diameter: 10.5 cm
Height: 12.5 cm
Previous owner/ex-collection: Sir Richard Rivington Holmes
Acquisition date: 1868

Posted In Drinking vessels | Royal regalia | The Plunder
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