The Prince and the Plunder

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

Category: Weapons

Spear with iron band *

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

What: Spear given by Secretary of State for India, Sir Stafford Henry Northcote

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

The catalogue entry reads:

“Spear forged from iron with long wooden handle. The spear head is long and narrow with a central raised spine on each side. The shaft is octagonally faceted and secured to the handle with a small nail.The tip of the handle is bound with a wide band of iron.”

Curator’s comments: “The iron band wrapped around the base of the spear acts as a counter balance for the weight of the spear head. The careful weighting of the weapon allows for more accurate throwing.”

Detail
Museum number: Af1868,1230.17
Date: 19thC
Height: 192 cm
Acquisition name: Sir Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh 
Acquisition date: 1868

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European sabre in Ethiopian sheath *

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

What: A European sabre in a custom-made Ethiopian sheath, given by Secretary of State for India, Sir Stafford Henry Northcote

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

The catalogue entry for the sabre reads: “Sabre with single edged, curved steel blade with central fuller. The hilt is made of iron with a leather [?] grip, scrolled quillian and iron pommel with small central boss.”

Inscription:
WCOLLE
SARGANT FAIRFAX

Curator’s comments: The sabre of European manufacture, is similar to those used by light infantry during the 19th century.

The catalogue entry for the sheath reads:

“Swords of European manufacture were highly valued and the quatlity of this sheath made for a Europen blade suggests that it was owned by someone of high rank. The fine filigree work lomita is a sign that the owner sucessfully pursued enemies in flight (Coates 1909) and would have been a reward for bravery. This particular style of sheath is often depicted in Ethiopian paintings of nobility.”

Detail
Museum number: Af1868,1230.11.a and Af1868,1230.11.b
Date: 19thC
Acquisition name: Sir Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh
Acquisition date: 1868

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Dagger and sheath *

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

What: Dagger and sheath linked to Magdala, but wrong date

Where: Pitt Rivers Museum, South Parks Rd, Oxford, OX1 3PP

Magdala is mentioned several times in the records, but they also say the dagger was collected by Hubert Berkeley in 1866, two years before the battle.

The catalogue entry describes: “Dagger [.1] with single edged grooved blade inscribed ‘ANDREA I FERARA’ (partly illegible). The silver-mounted hilt is bound in shagreen. With tooled and stitched leather sheath [.2].”

Pitt Rivers Museum box label – Hunting sword. Blade inscribed? Andrea I Farara. Magdala, Abyssinia. Hubert Berkeley coll. d.d. W.E. Berkeley. 1945.6.7 [LM 24/10/2007]

Related Documents File – 1945.6.1 contains a series of letters relating to the donation of Hubert Berkeley’s collection to the PRM. The first is dated 21/1/43, from W.E. Berkeley to Beatrice Blackwood, and mentions ‘trophies’ left to him by his brother, Hubert, that had been “hanging in our house Bruton Manor for the past twenty years”, as well as additional items Hubert had had at another location [illegible, Ch…jah?].

Detail:
1945.6.7 .1 1945.6.7 .2

Posted In Military | Suspected Magdala plunder | The Plunder | Weapons
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Sword with Arabic inscription *

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

What: Sword linked to Magdala, but wrong date

Where: Pitt Rivers Museum, South Parks Rd, Oxford, OX1 3PP

Magdala is mentioned several times in the records, but they also say the sword was collected by Hubert Berkeley in 1866, two years before the battle.

The catalogue entry describes:

“Sword with single-edged, slightly curved blade, blued, gilt, inscribed with Arabic characters and incised with a robed figure and military regalia. The guard is silver with repousse designs, the grip of wood covered with mother-of-pearl and decorated with silver plaques depicting military regalia.”

The Accession Book entry reads: “June 1945. Wolstan E. Berkeley, late of Bruton Manor, Portishead, Somerset. Bequest. Specimens collected by his brother, Captain Hubert Berkeley. – Abyssinia, Magdala. Slightly curved sword, with engraved blade (human figure, crossed flags, and Arabic characters). Wooden handle partly covered with mother-of-pearl, silver guard. Coll. in 1866. (H.W.B.)”

Related Documents File – 1945.6.1 contains a series of letters relating to the donation of Hubert Berkeley’s collection to the PRM. The first is dated 21/1/43, from W.E. Berkeley to Beatrice Blackwood, and mentions ‘trophies’ left to him by his brother, Hubert, that had been “hanging in our house Bruton Manor for the past twenty years”, as well as additional items Hubert had had at another location [illegible, Ch…jah?].

Detail
1945.6.8

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Munzinger’s sword *

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

What: A shotel sword thought to belong to Werner Münzinger, British Consul during the time of the Abyssinian campaign

Where: The Royal Collection, Britain

The database entry has a picture and reads: “Sword (shotel) with a long, sickle-shaped, two-edged, steel blade with a prominent centre ridge and a wooden I-shaped hilt overlaid in silver, jewelled with carbuncles, with the inscription ‘Munzingee [Münzinger?] to Dillan. Abyssinia, 1868’. Plain leather scabbard covered with red velvet.”

Munzinger is likely to be Werner Münzinger (1832-1875), an explorer of East Africa and British Consul during the time of the Abyssinian campaign of 1868.

Provenance

“Recorded in the 1910 catalogue of Arms and Armour at Sandringham House with the note ‘Obtained during the British Expedition of 1867-6 (C. Purdon Clarke, Arms and Armour at Sandringham : The Indian Collection Presented by the Princes, Chiefs and Nobles of India to His Majesty King Edward VII, When Prince of Wales, on the Occasion of His Visit to India in 1875-1876; Also Some Asiatic, African and European Weapons and War-relics, no. 570)”

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