Britain and South Africa have handed back to Ghana more than 130 gold and bronze artefacts taken between the 1870s and the early 20th century, the West African state’s Asante king announced.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II received the artefacts at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi on Sunday, according to a royal statement on Monday.
The items included royal regalia, drums, and ceremonial gold weights. Dating between 45 and 160 years old, the artefacts depict governance systems, spiritual beliefs, and the role of gold in Asante society.
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 colonial forces.
In 2024, the Manhyia Palace Museum received 67 restituted or loaned cultural objects from institutions including the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles
