Elaborately Decorated Cape from Abyssinia

Richly decorated wedding or coronation cape from Abyssinia, mid-19th century. Richly decorated wedding or coronation cape from Abyssinia, mid-19th century. © Foto: Ethnologisches Museum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Acc. no. III A 566.

The Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin holds a silk and gold and silver thread embroidered woman's cape from what is now Ethiopia. It appears to be one of a number of comparable capes commissioned by the Ethiopian emperor, Tewodros II (c. 1818-1868), from the Adwa workshops, as part of his overtures to Queen Victoria for the modernisation of the country and defence against the Muslim neighbouring states.

When the Emperor's plans fell on deaf ears, some of the capes were acquired or robbed by foreign forces and missionaries in the country, including Lord Robert Napier, who obtained two capes, which he presented to Queen Victoria, after his victorious Abyssinian campaign of 1868 and the pillage of Magada.

This particular example was acquired by the German missionary, Karl Heinrich Saalmüller (1829-1906). 

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin online catalogue  (retrieved 4 December 2016).

WV

Last modified on Sunday, 04 December 2016 13:53
Published in Secular ceremonies and rituals
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