Royal Palace, Benin;
probably looted as part of the British punitive expedition February 1897;
with William Downing Webster (1868–1913), Bicester, Great Britain;
from whom bought by Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (1827–1900), 20 January 1898 (£23.15);
by descent to his son Alexander Pitt-Rivers (1855–1927), Oxford;
by descent to his son George Pitt-Rivers (1890–1966), Oxford;
by inheritance to his wife Stella Pitt-Rivers, Oxford;
with Everett Rassiga (1922–2003), New York, from the late 1960s?;
from whom bought by the Australian National Gallery, Canberra, February 1973
The collecting history of this work of art is partial. The National Gallery of Australia welcomes further information regarding its history of ownership.
Catalogue of the Pitt Rivers museum, Farnham, 1898, vol.5, p.1592;Lieutenant-General Pitt-Rivers, Antique Works of Art from Benin, London: private printing 1900 (reprinted 1974), plate XV, figs 90–91, p.31, illus. b&w