{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1028800"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1028800/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017KE6568/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017KE6568/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2017KE6568","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1028800","accessionNumber":"E.263-1947","objectType":"Painting","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"parchment","id":"AAT11851"},{"text":"oil colour","id":"AAT15050"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawing","id":"x32498"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2017KE6568"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLH (VA)","id":"THES49654"},"free":"","case":"PD","shelf":"295","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"drawings","id":"AAT33973"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Ethiopia","id":"x35090"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"c.1942","earliest":"1937-01-01","latest":"1946-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mr D. Molesworth","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"8.5","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"1947","earliest":"1947-01-01","latest":"1947-12-31"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"12.5","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"1947","earliest":"1947-01-01","latest":"1947-12-31"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"<u>Provenance</u>: Acquired (probably commissioned from an Ethiopian artist) in Ethiopia by Hender Delves Molesworth, around 1942; given to the V&A by Molesworth in 1947.\r\n\r\nMr. Hender Delves Molesworth gifted this painting to the V&A in 1947. It probably depicts the Battle of Dessie, Ethiopia, which took place on 6 December 1935.\r\n\r\nMolesworth donated this painting along with six others. The museum’s accession register entry describes the group as “scenes (7) of fighting etc. in Abyssinia between Allied and Italian troops, during the Second World War, 1939–45. Abyssinian, c.1942.” Subsequent research, however, suggests that the paintings represent a series of Ethiopian battles dating from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.\r\n\r\nHender Delves Molesworth (1907–1978) was Keeper of the Department of Sculpture at the V&A from 1946 to 1954, and Keeper of the Department of Woodwork until 1966. Earlier in his career, he served as Curator of the Institute of Jamaica in Kingston from 1936 to 1938. During the Second World War, he worked for the Ministry of Information and later spent three years as press attaché to the British Legation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is likely to have acquired this group of paintings during this period. \r\n\r\nIn a publication from 1957, Molesworth described his experience of commissioning paintings in Ethiopia. This implies that he may have had this painting produced at his request. In the same text, he outlined the conventional iconography associated with Ethiopian battle painting. His description of typical representations of the Battle of Dessie — including “hospitals with blazing red crosses being bombed”, as well as “cine-camera men and anti-aircraft gunners” — closely corresponds with the imagery of this work.\r\n\r\nThe Battle of Dessie took place during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War (1935–1936), when Italian bombers attacked Emperor Haile Selassie’s temporary headquarters at Dessie, striking Red Cross units and causing casualties among Ethiopian troops and civilians. \r\n\r\nThe acquisition information for this object has been updated following a 2025 provenance research project on the V&A’s Ethiopian collections.\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Painting, probably depicting the Battle of Dessie. Oil on parchment. Ethiopia, around 1942. ","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design &amp; Department of Paintings, Accessions 1947, London: HMSO, 1950.\r\n\r\n"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Molesworth, H. D. “Painting in Ethiopia: A Reflection of Medieval Practice”. In Fritz Saxl, 1890-1948: A Volume of Memorial Essays from his Friends in England, edited by D. J. Gordon, 359-369. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd, 1957."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Hellman, Geoffrey T. “Keeper of Woodwork.” The New Yorker, April 22, 1961, p. 33."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Molly Judd, \"Researching the provenance of the V&A’s Ethiopian objects\" (V&A Blog), 14 January 2026. https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/researching-the-provenance-of-the-vas-ethiopian-objects"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.263-1947"],"accessionNumberNum":"263","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":1947,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-12","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-30","availableToBook":false}}