The Prince and the Plunder

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

Category: Shields

Napier’s shield, ‘taken at Magdala’

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

What: A shield from Magdala presented to Robert Napier, the commander of the British forces

Where: The Royal Engineers Museum, Prince Arthur Rd, Gillingham ME7 1UR

The catalogue entry reads: “Abyssinian shield, in decorated leather with silver mounts. The circular shield forms a convex shape with a silver finial at the end. There are a series of silver metal plates alternating with plain rectangular and shaped forms ending in a floral design. They are indispersed with smaller decorative elements. On the bottom rectangular plate is inscribed; “Taken at Magdala April 13th 1868. Presented to Lord Napier of Magdala by her Majesty’s Government.”

Details
Object number: 1203.1.6
Diameter: 600 mm

Posted In Military | Shields | The Plunder
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Shield with silver mounts

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

What: Hide shield with silver mounts, engraved: “N. H. Stewart Dragoon Guards Magdala April 13 1868”

Where: Unknown

Pictured on page 27 of the catalogue ‘Wars, Art, Racism & Slavery‘, published in 2009 by the collector and dealer Michael Graham-Stewart.

AbeBooks describes ‘Wars, Art, Racism & Slavery‘ as ‘A catalogue of Michael Graham-Stewart Slavery Collection which was purchased by the National Maritime Museum [National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London] in 2002, having been assembled by Graham-Stewart over a period of 14 years.” But there is no mention of the shield in the Greenwich museums’ online database.

Images of the shield and the central engraving are also on sale at Bridgeman Images.

A disc around the centre of the shield is engraved: “N. H. Stewart Dragoon Guards Magdala April 13 1868”.

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The Glasgow shield

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

What: A buffalo hide shield, returned to Ethiopia by a Scottish academic in May, 2004

Where: The Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa

The shield returned by Fiona Wilson

Professor Fiona Wilson returned this shield that her family had owned in Scotland since the late 19th century.

“Throughout my childhood the shield was hanging in the dining room of my parents’ house,” Fiona Wilson said at the ceremony when she handed over the shield to the Institute of Ethiopian Studies of the Addis Ababa University.

Wilson said her grandfather bought the buffalo-skin decorated in silver in the 1890s from a dealer and everyone believed it was Scottish.

“I discovered that I had become without realising it, the keeper of a small part of Ethiopia’s historical heritage and national treasure and decided to return it”, she added.

Quotes from Reuters report 31 May 04

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Shield with lion’s mane possibly made for Emperor Tewodros

Published May 08, 2023 / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: A shield and lion’s mane made for Emperor Tewodros, 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 mentioned at length in acquisition notes. Shield described as possibly made for Tewodros.

There are images nd more details on the British Museum’s database entry – https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1868-1001-1

The entry reads: 

“It is possible this shield was made for Tewedros II himself. It was described as ‘royal’ at the point of aquisition and as ‘the most richly ornamented of the royal shieds’ in R. Holmes to J. Winter Jones 20th July 1868 (British Museum Central Archive, Original Papers Volume 94, April to July 1868, no. 7629).“

Detail
Museum number: Af1868,1001.1
Date: 19thC (mid)
Made for: Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia
Acquisition name: Field Collection by: Sir Richard Rivington Holmes
Acquisition date: 1868

Posted In Military | Royal regalia | Said to belong to Tewodros | Shields | The Plunder
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