The return of the oryal item does not resolve the history it represents. Instead, it opens broader and more complex questions about how a vast body of Ethiopian cultural heritage, dispersed across continents since the 19th century, is traced, contested, negotiated, and, in rare cases, recovered.
Alula Pankhurst, anthropologist, observes the hairpin is unusually large. “Many of the others were much smaller,” he told The Reporter Magazine, concluding that “there is no hairpin that is as beautiful as this one in any of the collections.”
The true significance of this hairpin lies in its association with Empress Tiruwork Wube. Known by the titleItege, traditionally reserved for an emperor’s wife, she was the second and last wife of Emperor Tewodros II, who reigned for 13 years in the mid-19th century. She was also the daughter of DejazmachWube Haile Maryam, a powerful regional ruler during the Zemene Mesafint.
The provenance of the hairpin is unusually well documented. When it resurfaced at auction in Rome, it did so through Bertolami Fine Art, a private auction house dealing in antiquities and fine art. The auction house was acting on behalf of a private consignor, a common practice that further obscures ownership. Such arrangements, where auction houses act on behalf of private owners, often shield the identities of consignors, complicating direct restitution efforts.
The item was accompanied by a presentation box bearing an inscription reading: “hairpin worn by Toronesh, wife of King Theodore, daughter of the King of Tigray, brought from Abyssinia by J. Sinclair, 33rd Regiment, 1868.”
Alula Pankhurst adds on LinkedIn:
- Artefacts belonging to The Etege are scattered in different museums including her dresses, shawl, hairpin, necklaces, amulet, bracelets and anklets, in in the Victoria and Albert Museum, her book of Psalms in the British Museum, two cloaks in the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology, a bracelet in the National Museum of Scotland and a necklace in Hughenden Manor (see Andrew Heavens’ website https://lnkd.in/eJ8wUWQh.)
