17 items from the V&A and 15 items from the British Museum are to be loaned under separate three-year loan agreements to the Manhyia Palace Museum in Ghana.
The objects have been compared to the UK crown jewels in terms of their cultural significance for the Asante people, by Tristan Hunt, director of the V&A.
Of the 17 items being loaned by the V&A, 13 of these were acquired by the Museum at an auction in April 1874 (1 gold peace pipe, 3 cast gold soul-washers’ badges, 7 sections of sheet-gold ornament, 1 silver straining spoon, 1 pair of silver anklets). Two further items of gold regalia were bought by the V&A within a decade of a raid in which the objects were acquired by British Troops in February 1874, one from a military family and one in 1883 with no record of our previous owner. The two final items of those to be loaned from the V&A (a gold ring and a gold ornament in the form of an eagle) were acquired by the V&A in 1921 and 1936 respectively. The gold ring was given to the V&A by a collector while the eagle was donated by a military family in 1936.
You can read more about the objects going on loan here.
Article Image Credit Line: Cast gold badge, worn by the Asantehene's (king's) 'soul washer' as a badge of office, Asante, Ghana, before 1874 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.