Holmes was part of the British Expedition to Abyssinia in 1868, during which many Ethiopian documents, cultural artefacts, and art objects were looted as spoils of war by British soldiers. Holmes himself took a large cache of loot from the Battle of Magdala back to Great Britain, much of which found its way into the British Museum. The looted Kwer’ata Re’esu icon (a European painting of Christ with the crown of thorns) remained in his personal possession.