3-021-322 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Relics from Abyssinia: Royal Cap of King Theodore, 1868. One of the '...objects of interest and value which formed part of the spoil captured by the British army at the storming of Magdala...It was at first believed that this was the Royal crown, and it was only when it was taken out to be sketched that the truth appeared evident that it could not possibly be so. The tassel, indeed, is a feature which is incompatible with the design of a crown. After a good deal of trouble, and inquiries made of various people about the camp who were at Magdala, the authorities at last agreed pretty nearly that it was a cap worn by the King, and that it was one which had been sent as a present to Theodore by the Coptic Patriarch of Cairo; but Theodore seldom or never wore it, and at last had given it to the Church of the Saviour at Magdala. Whether it be of solid gold or not is not yet determined. The upper part is of red velvet, with gold lace and stars, and with a golden top and long gold tassel, the cords of which terminate in beads'. From "Illustrated London News", 1868.