The Kataklé, the ceremonial royal stool from the Kingdom of Danxomè, has finally returned to its land of origin.
After more than a century of exile, the royal seat, which was among the twenty-seven pieces seized by Colonel Dodds during the colonial conquest of Danxomè, is now back in Benin.
An official ceremony marking the transfer of ownership between the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Arts of Benin and the National Museum of Finland, which held the artifact, took place in Cotonou on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
The Kataklé, a three-legged stool, dates back to the Kingdom of Dahomey, founded in the 17th century off the coast of what is now Benin.
“This return marks a new milestone in Benin’s ongoing efforts to recover its iconic cultural heritage held abroad. It also reflects the shared commitment of Beninese and Finnish institutions to advance cultural cooperation through dialogue and mutual respect,” reports the Ecofin agency.
A symbol of stability, power, and unity in the Kingdom of Danxomè, founded in the 17th century in what is now the Republic of Benin, the Kataklé was the first seat used for the coronation of the king. Its history is tied to the colonial conquest in 1892, when French troops commanded by Colonel Alfred Dodds seized several valuable items from the royal palace.
The stool was one of the twenty-seven pieces seized by Dodds and transferred to Paris, first joining the Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro (now the Musée de l’Homme), before being moved to the collections of the National Museum of Finland in 1939 as part of an exchange of ethnographic objects.
The return of the royal stool echoes the restitution by France in November 2021 of a first batch of twenty-six cultural works looted during colonization.
