V&A Museum Launches Provenance Research Webpage Highlighting Looted Objects

On International Provenance Research Day, April 8, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London unveiled a new webpage dedicated to exploring the origins of its collection. The site, titled 'How have objects come to be in the V&A?', compiles existing articles and a new piece on Ethiopian holdings, featuring essays on looted items like the Asante Regalia and Maqdala material. Director Tristram Hunt emphasized the museum's commitment to transparency under the 1983 National Heritage Act, which restricts deaccessioning to cases such as duplicates or damage. A V&A spokesperson noted the page includes objects with complex histories, such as a nephrite jade plaque looted from Beijing's Yuanming Yuan in 1860 and a 19th-century betel box from King Thibaw of Burma. Provenance research curator Alexandra Watson Jones detailed that around 90 Ethiopian objects in the collection are linked to the 1867-68 British military expedition, which resulted in the death of Emperor Tewodros II and the looting of Maqdala. Among these are a gold chalice and crown, subject to a 2007 restitution request from Ethiopia, though loan discussions have stalled. The Research Association for Provenance Research organizes the annual event to promote such investigations globally.