18th-19th century (?), comissioned from the Royal Ivory-sculptors Guild (Igbesanmwan) by the Royal Palace of Benin; by descent to Oba Ovonramwen (Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, b. about 1857 - d. about 1914; r. 1888 - 1897); 1897, probably looted from the Royal Palace during the British military occupation of Benin; [...]; until 1926, Johann Friedrich Gustav Umlauff (dealer, Hamburg); 1926, deposit of the Freiwilliger Museumsverein Basel at the Museum der Kulturen Basel