The hairpin is an example of Ethiopian jewelry craftsmanship and is presented to the National Museum of Ethiopia. It is one of several personal items belonging to Tiruwork that ended up in the hands of the British army after the defeat of her husband Tewodros at Maqdala in 1868.
Courtesy Bertolami Fine Art
The return followed negotiations between the RET and the Rome auction house Bertolami Fine Art.
The negotiations were led by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, in close collaboration with RET Board Member Nicholas Melillo.
Board member Alula Pankhurst participated in the event at The The Catholic University of America of America in Washington, DC.
Returning Heritage writes:
- Empress Tiruwork, also known as Tirunesh, was the emperor’s second wife who lived with their only son Alamayu in the mountain fortress of Maqdala. After the defeat of his army, Tewodros took his own life and Tiruwork, along with Alamayu, became the responsibility of the British forces, led by Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Napier. En route to a transport ship where both were to be transported to England, Empress Tiruwork died. Her possessions, including books, clothes and jewellery, were either boxed up along with the rest of the expedition’s baggage as the property of Britain to end up in London’s South Kensington Museum (now the V&A), or removed by soldiers and brought home in their personal baggage.
