London’s V&A launches webpage exploring provenance of its objects

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) launched a new webpage on 8 April (International Provenance Research Day) titled “How have objects come to be in the V&A?” to highlight provenance research and the histories of objects affected by violence, coercion, or uncertainty. V&A director Tristram Hunt said the resource reflects a commitment to accountability and transparency while noting the 1983 National Heritage Act restricts legal deaccession except under limited criteria. The page compiles existing articles and includes a newly published piece by provenance research curator Alexandra Watson Jones on the museum’s Ethiopian holdings, which include around 90 objects, many linked to the British military expedition of 1867–68 and the 1868 looting at Maqdala. It also references essays on the Asante Regalia (now at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi), Maqdala material, and a 4,250-year-old Anatolian gold ewer from the Gilbert Collection returned to Turkey in 2021.

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