The drum and the ivory trumpet were looted by British troops in the late 19th century in Kumasi, the capital of the Asante kingdom, so the Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles is determined to return them to Ghana. But the musical instruments have been transformed into gruesome war trophies—the attached skulls could be the decapitated heads of the Asante’s enemies.
Although it would be appropriate to restitute the musical instruments to the present Asante king, it would be widely regarded as unethical to return the bones of their former enemies, victims from neighbouring communities.
Confidential discussions have now been underway for seven years with Ghana’s ministry of tourism, culture and creative arts and, since last July, with the National Focal Team on Restitution and Repatriation. There is still no sign of an imminent solution.
And it would seem inappropriate to remove the skulls from the instruments, splitting up historical ensembles which have probably been together for two centuries.
In 2024, with considerable fanfare, the Fowler Museum restituted seven other items to the Asante king. These have no human remains and are now on display in Kumasi’s Manhyia Palace Museum. But what was not publicised at the time was that the two musical instruments remain in limbo at the Fowler. Their existence is revealed in a new book by the London-based journalist Barnaby Phillips, The African Kingdom of Gold: Britain and the Asante Gold.
Confidential discussions have now been underway for seven years with Ghana’s ministry of tourism, culture and creative arts and, since last July, with the National Focal Team on Restitution and Repatriation. There is still no sign of an imminent solution.
The current Asante king, Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, might like the musical instruments to go to the Manhyia Palace Museum, where the artefacts previously returned by the Fowler are now on show.
But some non-Asante Ghanaians might feel that it would be insensitive of the Asante to display the skull of a defeated (and possibly decapitated) member of a neighbouring Akan group. An alternative solution would be restitution to the National Museum in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, although to display the skull of an executed man might be regarded by some as disrespectful.
