An Ethiopian shield, looted at the battle of Maqdala in 1868, is due to be auctioned on Thursday in Newcastle upon Tyne. The shield is included by Anderson & Garland in their eclectic sale billed as “The Collectors' Auction”. The central boss has been inscribed "Magdala 13th April 1868”, the date of battle (now known as Maqdala) at which British forces defeated the Ethiopian emperor Tewodros II. On 23 February the director general of the Ethiopian Heritage Authority, Abebaw Ayalew, wrote to Anderson & Garland, saying that the shield had been “wrongfully acquired in a context of a punitive expedition to Ethiopia”. He points out that in 2021 a Busby auction in Bridport of looted horn cups seized at Maqdala was cancelled after the Ethiopian authorities intervened.

Source: Ethiopian News February 26, 2024 11:53 UTC