{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O144265"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O144265/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BT3306/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2008BT3306/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2008BT3306","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2008BT3328","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O144265/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O144265","accessionNumber":"1733-1869","objectType":"Processional cross","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This brass processional cross was purchased by the South Kensington Museum from Major Trevenen James Holland in July 1869. It was purchased by Holland at the British army's prize auction following the looting of the fortress of Emperor Tewodros II at Maqdala, during the 1867-68 Expedition to Ethiopia.\r\n\r\nA dedicatory inscription in Ge'ez in the centre of the cross indicates that it was once a gift from an individual named 'Walda Gabriel' ('son of Gabriel'), possibly to an Ethiopian church. In the Ethiopian Orthodox church, crosses have always played an important role as symbols of resurrection and life. This cross is missing its hollow shaft which would have enabled it to be mounted on a long wooden pole and held by the priest during sacramental activities, services, and processions.","physicalDescription":"Processional cross missing socket. Central cross within an openwork quatrefoil, surmounted by other crosses. Ge'ez inscription at centre on one face.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"brass","id":"AAT10946"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Brass","categories":[{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"},{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"},{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2008BT3306","2008BT3328"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"NAL","id":"THES251738"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Processional cross","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Ethiopia","id":"x35090"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"before 1868","earliest":null,"latest":"1867-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"28","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"31","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"maximum","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"ዝመቀስል ዘቅዱሰ ገብርኤል ዘወሀበ ወልደ ገብርኤል","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"The cross of Saint Gabriel, which Walda Gabriel [son of Gabriel] gave","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"<u>Provenance</u>: Dedicated or given to a church by 'Walda Gabriel' ('son of Gabriel'), Ethiopia, 18th or 19th century. Looted at Maqdala, Ethiopia, April 1868; purchased by Major Trevenen James Holland at the army prize auction, Talanta Plain, April 1868; purchased from Holland by the South Kensington Museum, July 1869.\r\n\nThis brass cross was purchased by the South Kensington Museum from Major Trevenen James Holland in July 1869, as part of a small collection of Ethiopian objects offered to the museum for sale by Holland. A dedicatory inscription in Ge'ez in the centre of the cross indicates that it was once a gift from an individual named 'Walda Gabriel' ('son of Gabriel'), possibly to an Ethiopian church.\n\nAn entry in the Board minutes from the Department of Practical Art, and Science and Art Department, approving the museum's purchase of several 'Abyssinian objects' from Holland on 21 July 1869, states that 'these specimens are offered by Major Holland for the sum paid for them at the prize sale at Magdala.' (National Archives ED 28/23).\n\nThis indicates that the cross and other objects offered to the museum by Holland were part of the vast quantities of Ethiopian material culture looted by British troops during the 1867-8 British Expedition to Ethiopia, a pivotal episode in both British and Ethiopian history that culminated in the death of Emperor Tewodros II and the destruction and looting of his fortress at Maqdala.\n\nIn 1863, Tewodros took hostage around thirty European diplomats and missionaries stationed in Ethiopia. He took this action after letters he had written to Queen Victoria in 1857 and 1862, requesting military assistance from Britain, had gone unanswered. Following failed diplomatic attempts to secure the release of the hostages, a large-scale British military expedition was launched from Bombay in October 1867. The expedition was led by General Sir Charles Robert Napier, and comprised around 12,000 British and Indian troops.\n\r\nOn 10th April 1868, a brutal battle took place between the Emperor's troops and the British army at Arogee, a plateau below Maqdala. The British army very quickly overwhelmed Tewodros’ soldiers with enormous firepower that resulted in heavy Ethiopian casualties. On 13 April, Napier’s forces launched the final attack on Maqdala that saw Tewodros’ armies entirely defeated. The Emperor took his own life.\n\r\nThe British Army then proceeded to ransack the fortress and the surrounding area, where they found many Ethiopian manuscripts, sacred objects and other valuable items. The loot from Maqdala was transported to the Talanta Plain around ten miles away, where the army’s ‘prize’ auction took place a week later, and where this cross and other items were purchased by Holland.\n\nMajor Trevenen James Holland, together with his military colleague Sir Henry Montague Hozier, provided the only official account of the expedition on the orders of the Secretary of State for War. <i>Their Record of the Expedition to Abyssinia</i> was published in two volumes in 1870.\n\nAccession register entry: 'Processional cross. Abyssinian. Price £3.0.0. Purchased from Major Holland. Date of receipt from stores 26th April 1869.' (Note: 'Abyssinia' was a term historically used to refer to Ethiopia by those outside the country).","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Processional cross, brass, without socket, Ethiopia, before 1868.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[{"text":"Looting of Maqdala (1868)","id":"V92"},{"text":"1867-8 British Expedition to Ethiopia (1/10/1867 - 13/5/1868)","id":"AUTH407033"}],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["1733-1869"],"accessionNumberNum":"1733","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-06-19","recordCreationDate":"2008-01-30","availableToBook":false}}