In January 1896 the ewer was looted by UK troops from the Asante (Ashanti) king, in what is now Ghana, and returned to London. Six months later it was sold to the museum.
So, what is the object’s current ethical status? Could it possibly have been looted twice?
The mystery is how the ewer reached the Asante capital, Kumasi, which is around 5,000 miles away.
There were two possible routes.
- It may have travelled on an English ship to North Africa, from where it could have been sent overland by camel, across the Sahara to Timbuktu and then on to Kumasi.
- Alternatively, it may have gone by sea, possibly as early as the 1470s on one of the first Portuguese voyages around West Africa.
