British Museum thefts saga continues; Wales next in line
4 Min Read
The British Museum Act of 1963 officially forbids the complete repatriation of the museum's treasures; however, it is unclear how this relates to Welsh antiquities.
-
The Mold Gold Cape in the British Museum (Creative Commons)
Wales is following in the footsteps of Greece, Nigeria, and China, demanding that artifacts in the British Museum be returned.
Only this week, a Chinese newspaper demanded Britain return "all Chinese cultural relics acquired through improper channels to China free of charge."
The British Museum Act of 1963 officially forbids the complete repatriation of the museum's treasures; however, it is unclear how this relates to Welsh antiquities.
Last year, Liz Truss expressed that she did not support the restitution of the Parthenon sculptures from the British Museum back to their origin in Greece.
Meanwhile, Welsh politicians are demanding the repatriation of Welsh artifacts kept at the Museum, such as the 4,000-year-old Mold Gold Cape. "The cape [found in Mold, Flintshire, in 1833] is one of the finest examples of prehistoric sheet-gold working and is quite unique in form and design," according to the British Museum's website.
Liz Saville Roberts, the Westminster leader of the Plaid Cymru party, told the Daily Mail, "The Moel Hebog Shield [another Welsh artifact] is not even on display despite the treasure being over 3,000 years old. The argument used by the British Museum is that it is the most secure location for them."
According to the Museum's site, the shield is a "splendid example, representative of the rise of large sheet-bronze work in later Bronze Age Europe."
Saville Roberts explains that "for Wales, for Greece, and for many countries that were under the control of the British Empire, that argument has been severely undermined by this saga. It is high time we faced that the British Museum does not hold the right to these treasures and a grown-up discussion is required about their repatriation."
She has suggested they be transferred to Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales in Cardiff.
Heledd Fychan, Plaid Cymru member and a member of the Welsh Senedd (parliament), told The Art Newspaper, "I would like to see the British Museum proactively engage with national museums across the world about repatriation of key collections and perhaps display the replicas there instead. That means key collections could still be showcased in London, but that the objects themselves could be in their rightful nations, should that be the will of the people and those national museums."
According to a British Museum spokesperson speaking to Sky News, "The Mold Gold cape has been on loan to both Wrexham Museum and National Museum Wales in Cardiff in the past ten years, and it has been loaned internationally, as recently as 2021 to Halle in Germany. Six million people visit the museum each year to experience this world-class collection, and the Mold Gold cape is on display to them all, for free, where it is a star piece in our Europe and Middle East Gallery."
The Museum has also been under fire for lax security following the discovery of "missing, stolen, or damaged" artifacts from the British Museum's collection on August 16.
A staff member was fired subsequently and the Museum notified the police.
At the time, the director of the Museum in central London, Hartwig Fischer, called the incident "highly unusual". The Museum is best known for having collections that include the Parthenon Marbles and the Rosetta Stone.
Egyptian expert demands retrieving national items from British Museum
Zahi Hawass, a renowned expert in Egyptian archaeology, has strongly condemned the British Museum's handling of Egyptian artifacts, calling it a crime against the world society.
He described the theft of these treasures as a great travesty and asked for a widespread demand that the British Museum no longer be regarded as an acceptable location for the presentation of Egyptian artifacts.
The existence of the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, according to Hawass, is a terrible error, as this stone is an iconic emblem of Egyptian ancestry.
He firmly believes that the Rosetta Stone's rightful place is within the grand Egyptian Museum in Egypt itself.
