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STOLEN
OBJECTS
| Burkina
Faso
A stone statuette, formerly in
a private collection in Germany, was returned to Burkina
Faso on 16 December 2001. The statuette, which was stolen
in 1991, was described in ICOM's 1994 publication One
Hundred Missing Objects. Looting in Africa. However,
neither the community to which the statuette originally
belonged, nor the state of Burkina Faso, has been recognised
as its rightful owner. |
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Nigeria
The French government
has recognised Nigeria’s ownership of three
Nok and Sokoto artefacts, acquired by France in 1999
for the planned Musée du Quai Branly.
These objects
– in the category of archaeological objects
identified on the ICOM Red List as being among the
types of cultural goods most affected by thefts and
looting – are protected by national legislation
and banned from export: they must not be purchased
or offered for sale. Nigeria – in exchange for
France's recognition of its ownership – has
decided to deposit the Nok and Sokoto objects with
the Musée du Quai Branly, where they will be
exhibited in the museum’s permanent collection
for a period of 25 years (renewable).
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Angola
In January 2002 a 16th century
tribal mask was stolen from a museum in Dundo, in the
north-eastern Angolan province of Lunda-Norte. Known
as the 'Mwana Pwo' (young woman), the mask represented
a key figure in rituals practised during popular festivals
by the Lunda-Cokwe ethnic group, part of the former
Lunda empire. Six Lunda-Cokwe statues stolen last year
from the museum of anthropology in Luanda have still
not been recovered.
An official
at the only museum in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda,
which is surrounded by the Congo and the DRC, reported
that a series of rare works of art and tape recordings
containing the results of anthropological and linguistic
research had been stolen. |
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Ethiopia
According to a web posting dated
29 April 2002 by UN Integrated Regional Information
Networks: "A crisis is looming over the future of the
world's largest and most important collection of Ethiopian
cultural heritage and treasures. The historic building
ñ once Emperor Haile Selassie's palace, and which now
houses the thousands of precious manuscripts and religious
artefacts - is in danger of collapse. A campaign by
the internationally renowned Institute of Ethiopian
Studies (IES) has been launched to build a new structure
to house the treasures." |
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Swahili Artefacts (East
Africa)
These Swahili Artefacts were
stolen in March 2005 from the house of Dr. Ernst Dammann
who died in 2003, in Pinneberg, Germany. It is believed
that the lute was made by the famous poet and singer
Kijumwa Masihi from Lamu. After the death of Dammann,
the pieces were to be bequeathed to both the Tanzanian
government and the Lamu Museum in Kenya.
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Eket
Mask (Nigeria)
This mask was stolen
from the Gerbrand Luttik collection in the Netherlands
at the end of 2004. |
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Yaure
Mask (Ivory Coast)
This rare mask (size:
20 cm) was stolen from the Ethnological Museum
in Munich (Völkerkundemuseum) the 22th of December
2004. The mask was collected by the German anthropologist,
Hans Himmelheber, in 1934. There is a reward for
the recovery of this mask.
If you have any information, contact:
Mr.
Stefan Eisenhofer
Curator for African Art Völkerkundemuseum, Munich
Tel: 49 89 210136138 |
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Salampasu
and Pende masks (DR Congo)
Two Salampasu masks
were stolen at Alain Guisson art shop in Brussels
on Monday January 19th 2004: one mask has a basket
on top filled with cotton; the other with copper.
Also stolen was a classical western Pende mask
with lines on the face. |
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Ashanti
regalia (Ghana)
A gold-mounted cap
and sandals were part of a lot on the cover of
the December 2003 Christies' auction catalogue
in Paris. The slippers, which have gold decoration
and protective shamanic text, were stolen before
the viewing started.
Objects:
circa 1870. Cap 20.5cm. wide: sandals 26cm. long
Label: "Cap and Slippers worn by the Ashanti King
Coffee Calcalli. Taken from the Palace of Coomassie
by H.B. Majesty's Forces under the command of
Major Genl. Sir Garnet Wolseley, K.C.B., G.C.M.G.,
January, 1874" |
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