{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O382668"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O382668/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BC2533/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BC2533/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BC2533","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O382668/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O382668","accessionNumber":"M.2826-1931","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 likely came to Britain as a result of 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":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[{"text":"gilding","id":"AAT53789"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":["2006BC2533"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES409367"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Armlet","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":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"<u>Provenance</u>: Sent to Britain from a political agent at Aden, 1873; deposited at the India Museum, 1877; transferred from the India Museum to the South Kensington Museum in 1879.\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 label slip from the India Museum states that the <i>bitäwa</i> is ‘from Abyssinia’ (a term historically used outside of Ethiopia to refer to the country). It also tells us that the <i>bitäwa</i> was sent to Britain from a political agent at Aden in 1873. It was transported aboard Mirzapore, a P&O passenger ship built to operate routes that utilised the Suez Canal. The bitäwa was subsequently deposited at the India Museum in 1877, before being transferred to the South Kensington Museum (later the V&amp;A) when its collections were dispersed in 1879.\r\n\r\nThe <i>bitäwa</i> likely arrived in Aden after 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.\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.","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"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Mansfield Parkyns, <i>Life in Abyssinia</i>. (London: John Murray, 1853), 2:14-15"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[{"text":"1867-8 British Expedition to Ethiopia (1/10/1867 - 13/5/1868)","id":"AUTH407033"}],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["M.2826-1931"],"accessionNumberNum":"2826","accessionNumberPrefix":"M","accessionYear":1931,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Previous number","id":"THES51695"},"number":"02744 (IS) "},{"type":{"text":"India Museum Slip Book","id":"THES50388"},"number":"5253-1877"},{"type":{"text":"","id":""},"number":""}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-11","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}