UK, S.Africa return looted treasures to Ghanaian traditional king

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Britain and South Africa have returned to a Ghanaian traditional king over 130 gold and bronze artefacts taken between the 1870s and the early 20th century, his palace announced.

Asante king Otumfuo Osei Tutu II received the artefacts at the Manhyia Palace Museum in the Asante capital Kumasi on Sunday, a royal statement said.

The items included royal regalia, drums and ceremonial gold weights and depict governance systems, spiritual beliefs and the role of gold in Asante society.

Their return comes as pressure mounts on Western museums and institutions to address the restitution of African artefacts plundered by colonial powers such as Britain, France, Germany and Belgium.

At the ceremony, the Asante king thanked AngloGold Ashanti, a South African mining company, for returning several items purchased on the open market. The mining giant returned some artefacts to Ghana in 2024.

The latest repatriation included 110 artefacts from the Barbier-Muller Museum collection in Geneva, assembled by collector Josef Muller in 1904.

Twenty-five other items were donated by British art historian Hermione Waterfield, who established the Tribal Art Department at Christie's in 1971.

According to art historian and Manhyia Palace Museum director, Ivor Agyeman-Duah, Waterfield's gifts included a wooden drum believed to have been seized during the 1900 siege of Kumasi by British forces.

In 2024, the Manhyia Palace Museum received 67 restituted or loaned cultural objects from institutions including London's British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles.