{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O382528"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O382528/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JG9829/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JG9829/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2016JG9829","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JG9830","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JU6271","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O382528","accessionNumber":"M.140-1922","objectType":"Bitäwa","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This armlet is an example of a <i>bitäwa</i>, an item of Ethiopian honorific jewellery worn by men and awarded by Ethiopian emperors. It was looted by a British colonel in April 1868 during the 1867-68 Expedition to Ethiopia, when vast quantities of Ethiopian material culture were looted by the British Army from the fortress of Emperor Tewodros II at Maqdala.","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silver","id":"AAT11029"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2016JG9829","2016JG9830","2017JU6271"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"NAL","id":"THES251738"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Armlet","id":"AAT45990"}]],"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":"Length","value":"18","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"05/08/2016","earliest":"2016-08-05","latest":"2016-08-05"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"5.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"05/08/2016","earliest":"2016-08-05","latest":"2016-08-05"},"part":"Across centre of narrower end","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"9.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"05/08/2016","earliest":"2016-08-05","latest":"2016-08-05"},"part":"Across centre of widest part","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"<u>Provenance</u>: Looted at Maqdala, Ethiopia, by Colonel Arthur William Macnaghten, Bombay Cavalry, 13 April 1868. Purchased by the V&amp;A from Mrs Louisa Macnaghten, 1922.\r\n\r\nThis armlet is an example of a <i>bitäwa</i>, worn by men and awarded by Ethiopian emperors as honorific jewellery until the 1930s, when they fell out of use.\n\nA note in the Museum register records that the object was 'stated by the vendor to have been taken at the siege of Magdala, 1868, by Col. Macnaghten, Bombay Cavalry and to have been the property of King Theodore'. This indicates that the <i>bitäwa</i> was 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 (often referrred to in Britain as 'Theodore') 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.\n\r\nThe V&amp;A bought the armlet in 1922 from Mrs Louisa Macnaghten, Col. Macnaghten's widow, following his death in 1916.\n\r\nThe acquisition information for this object has been updated following a 2025 provenance research project on the V&A’s Ethiopian collections.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"<i>Bitäwa</i> (armlet), Ethiopia, before 1868","bibliographicReferences":[{"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":[{"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":["M.140-1922"],"accessionNumberNum":"140","accessionNumberPrefix":"M","accessionYear":1922,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-06-19","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":false}}