The United Kingdom will loan back Ghana’s “Crown Jewels” 150 years after looting them from the court of the Asante king.
The three-year loan agreements, with an option to extend for a further three years, are not with the Ghanaian government but with Otumfo Osei Tutu II – the current Asante king known as the Asantehene – who attended the coronation of King Charles last year.
A gold peace pipe is among 32 items returning under long-term loan deals.
The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) is lending 17 pieces and 15 are from the British Museum.
Ghana’s chief negotiator said he hoped for “a new sense of cultural cooperation” after generations of anger.
Some national museums in the UK – including the V&A and the British Museum – are banned by law from permanently giving back contested items in their collections, and loan deals such as this are seen as a way to allow objects to return to their countries of origin.
But some countries laying claim to disputed artefacts fear that loans may be used to imply they accept the UK’s ownership.
Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A, told the newsmen that the gold items of court regalia are the equivalent of “our Crown Jewels”.
The items to be loaned, most of which were taken during 19th-Century wars between the British and the Asante, include a sword of state and gold badges worn by officials charged with cleansing the soul of the king
