Lunchtime Lecture with Barnaby Phillips: The African Kingdom of Gold - Britain and the Asante Treasure

What is the course about?

This one-off lecture will examine the rise of the Asante kingdom in what is today Ghana, and how Britain came into conflict with Asante in the nineteenth century. We will explore how the British looted the Asante and eventually subjugated the kingdom, which was incorporated into the British Empire.

We learn how British soldiers brought back Asante regalia to London, and how it was acquired by wealthy individuals such as Queen Victoria and Richard Wallace, and national museums such as the British Museum and the V&A. We look at how the Asante themselves always hoped the looted regalia would be returned, and how their diplomacy nearly succeeded in the 1970s.

In the C21st we see how the British Museum and the V&A responded to calls for restitution by loaning back to Asante in 2024 some pieces of regalia, while the Fowler Museum in California made outright returns. We place these returns in the context of discussions around the Parthenon Marbles and the Benin Bronzes, as well as wider debates about decolonizing museums and history. And we examine how the Asante have responded to these returns, and their hopes for the future.

Tutor: Barnaby Phillips. Barnaby is a journalist, historian and writer who has recently published a book on the Asante Gold controversy.     

What will we cover?

1. The conflict between the Asante kingdom and the British Empire.  
2. Asante gold regalia arrives in Victorian Britain. 
3. The end of Asante resistance
4. The post-independence era
5. Little-known stories around the Asante regalia (embarrassing thefts from the British Museum and Christie’s auction rooms, fakes peddled on the market, extraordinary treasure held in regimental mess rooms and other private collections, and how Queen Elizabeth II was an Asante regalia restitution trail-blazer in 1961).
6. The restitution clamour of the 2020s and the returns of 2024.  

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

By the end of the course students will have a better understanding of;

1. The rise of the Asante Kingdom, and how and why it came into conflict with the British Empire.
2. Contemporary debates and responses in Britain and Asante to the looting of the regalia.
3. Attitudes of major western museums to colonial loot, and how these have evolved over time.
4. The means by which an African kingdom such as Asante can campaign for the return of its loot, and how this can be complicated by the emergence of post-independence nation states.
5. The political pressures on institutions such as the British Museum as they seek to fend off, or perhaps accommodate, calls for restitution in the twenty-first century.
6. The significance to the Asante of their returned regalia, and its context within wider African attempts to reclaim heritage and history. 

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

All welcome - this is a one-off lecture and no prior knowledge is required. Given the sensitive nature of some of the topics the course will explore, we also expect everyone to engage group and class discussions with respect and the willingness to learn from others.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

The illustrated lecture will include photographs, contemporary drawings and maps, and is based on research from original documents, published works, and extensive interviews in Kumasi and London. There will be time for questions at the end. There will be no work outside class.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

Pen and paper if you wish to make notes.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

You may wish to join Barnaby for another lunchtime lecture - please see the Africa area of the website for further details.