Return to Ghana with more than 130 Ashanti treasures held in England and Switzerland

More than 130 gold and bronze objects stored in Britain and Switzerland have been returned to Ghana, said the Ashanti king, a citizen of the East African nation.

King Osei Tutu II officially received the artifacts – royal regalia, drums and ceremonial gold scales – on Sunday (9 November) at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi (center), the traditional capital of the Ashantis, according to a statement.

This latest restitution includes 110 artifacts from the collection of the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, Switzerland, collected by collector Josef Mueller in 1904.

Wooden drums

Another 25 objects were donated by British art historian Hermione Waterfield, who founded the main art department at Christie’s in 1971. According to Manhyia Palace Museum director Ivor Agyeman-Duah, Hermione Waterfield’s donation included a wooden drum believed to have been confiscated during the siege of Kumasi by British colonial forces in 1900.

As of 2024, the Manhyia Palace Museum has received 67 objects returned or loaned from institutions including the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, as well as the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles.

The king also thanked AngloGold Ashanti, a South African mining company, for returning some jobs purchased on the open market in 2024.