1874 looted crown jewels: Otumfuo receives 1st batch Thursday

The first batch of seven objects looted in the third Anglo-Asante War of 1874 has arrived in Ghana on board a United Airlines flight and will be permanently presented to the Asantehene Osei Tutu II on Thursday, February 8, 2024. This will be at the commencement durbar marking the commemoration of the 150 years of the War at Dwaberem, Manhyia Palace. The objects, including a ceremonial cap worn by courtiers at coronations, were acquired by the Fowler Museum in 1965 and are now being permanently presented to the Asantehene.

The returning objects were approved to leave California in December under their CITIES PERMIT. Discussions between the museum and the Manhyia Palace have been ongoing for several years, and this return marks a change in legislation at the university which now allows all looted items to be returned to their original owners.

This return also signals the beginning of a new cultural cooperation between the Fowler Museum, the University of California (UCLA), the Manhyia Palace Museum, and the College of Art and Built Environment, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The seven items range from an ornamental chair to a royal necklace and date back to the period before Asantehene Kofi Karkari in the 1840s.