Brits actually return stolen Ethiopian colonial artefacts in shock move

The sticky-fingered Brits have actually returned stolen colonial artefacts pilfered during one of its African wars. The Ethiopian heirlooms had been held in a British Army regimental museum. And, like countless other stolen artefacts, they’d been floating around British heritage sites since being pinched in 1868. The news has reignited the debate surrounding colonial artefacts unjustifiably held in British institutions.

The repatriation of colonial artefacts

A slightly miffed Daily Telegraph reported that:

Emperor Tewodros II died in a battle with British forces in 1868, after which soldiers under Gen Sir Robert Napier looted sacred and secular treasures from the hilltop fortress of Magdala, in what was then Abyssinia.

They further explained that:

To avoid capture, the emperor took his own life with his pistol, a weapon said to have been given to him by Queen Victoria. Soldiers of the now-defunct King’s Own Royal Regiment took as trophies a braid of his hair and a scrap of shirt stained with his blood.

Commenting on the repatriation of these items, the head of the Ethiopia Heritage Authority Abebaw Ayalew Gella said:

We hope that this generous example will inspire other museums to follow suit in the near future, and that further repatriation and collaboration can be negotiated with other museums in the United Kingdom.

Sure, we agree, but we’re not holding our breath about seeing many more colonial artefacts returned anytime soon.

The Telegraph also reported that:

Among the loot were royal artefacts, which have a spiritual significance given the close connections between Ethiopia’s former Christian royalty and the Orthodox Church, and sacred tablets known as “tabots”.

The paper said that the Royal Engineers Museum, the Royal Artillery Museum, and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards all continue to hold colonial artefacts, which were pilfered during the same war.

Colonial reckoning long overdue

Another British Army regiment is under pressure to give back items it stole from what is modern-day Ghana. As the Canary reported on 25 February, the Royal Artillery has various items from its sackings (yes, they did it twice) of the kingdom of the Asante capital, Kumasi, including significant colonial artefacts.

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum agreed to repatriate colonial artefacts it held in 2024. But the Royal Artillery are still holding out on a golden ram’s head looted during a colonial butcher-and-bolt mission. This is just one example of numerous colonial artefacts still awaiting restitution.

Author Barnaby Phillips told the Guardian that he believed:

the Royal Artillery may be “embarrassed” by a stand that was commissioned for the ram’s head in 1875, as it depicts three black boys in loincloths, as if holding the object aloft, while its base is engraved with words commemorating the battles and capture of the city.

Bizarrely, the army blocked him on “security grounds.” Phillips said:

It’s an army institution holding the spoils of war, but they say it’s not safe to show it to me. That’s somewhat ironic.

He explained the regimental secretary’s rejection letter was “curt and categorical”:

The regiment was ‘unable to agree’ to my request to see its Asante gold ram’s head, held in the officers’ mess room at their barracks in Larkhill … ‘It has long been our policy, primarily on security grounds, not to allow public access to items held in the regiment’s private collection,’ wrote the secretary. He clarified that it was for insurance reasons.”

Empire was a criminal heist

Ghana is currently pushing to have the head returned. Hopefully, some movement on the Ethiopian artefacts will help that case progress. But even these are just a drop in the pond, considering the thousands of colonial artefacts spread across our museums. A 2025 Oxfam report calculated that between 1765 and 1900 the empire stole USD 64.82 trillion worth of wealth from India alone.

Arguably, this stands out as one of the most audacious heists in modern history — the plundering of colonial artefacts was central to wealth extraction by the British empire.

As the National reported at the time: This included extensive lists of colonial artefacts dispersed throughout British collections.

a significant number of the richest people in the UK can trace their family wealth back to slavery and colonialism, specifically the compensation paid to rich enslavers when slavery was abolished.

Oxfam also emphasised that:

This must be reversed. Reparations must be made to those who were brutally enslaved and colonised. Our modern-day colonial economic system must be made radically more equal to end poverty. The cost should be borne by the richest people who benefit the most.

There is a good history lesson in this all for flag-waving empire nostalgists who thronged London’s streets this weekend at fascist Tommy Robinson’s ‘Unite The Kingdom’ march.

The fact remains — Britain still needs a full reckoning with its colonial history if it’s ever going to get over itself. That includes a proper accounting of the vast crimes of empire and the colonial artefacts still held by Britain.

Featured image via Leon Neal/Getty Images

By Joe Glenton

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