Royal Palace, Benin;
looted as part of the British punitive expedition February 1897;
with J C Stevens, London, 4 July 1899, lot 201;
from whom bought by Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (1827–1900), Pitt-Rivers collection no.369 (£52.10);
by descent to his son Alexander Pitt-Rivers (1855–1927), Oxford;
by descent to George Pitt-Rivers, Oxford;
by inheritance to his wife Stella Pitt-Rivers, Oxford, 1966;
with Everett Rassiga (1922–2003), New York;
from whom bought by the Australian National Gallery, Canberra, July 1973
The collecting history of this work of art is partial. The National Gallery of Australia welcomes further information regarding its history of ownership.
Genesis of a Gallery 1976–77, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 6 March–4 April 1976, to Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 29 April–20 May 1976, to Art Gallery, Darwin, 19 July–2 August 1976, to Darnell Gallery, University of Que
Catalogue of the Pitt Rivers museum, Farnham, 1899, vol.6, p.1899;
Lieutenant-General Pitt-Rivers, Antique Works of Art from Benin, London: private printing 1900 (reprinted 1974), plate XLVII, figs 369–71, p.94, illus. b&w;
Felix von Luschan, Die Altertümer von Benin, Berlin and Leipzig:De Gruyter1919 (reprinted New York: Hacker Art Books 1968), fig.163, p.89, illus. b&w;
Genesis of a Gallery, the Collection of the Australian National Gallery, Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service 1976, illus. col. [np];
‘The Collection of the National Gallery of Australia,’ Art and Australia, vol.14 nos 3 and 4, Jan–April 1977, p.318, illus. col.;
Barbara Plankensteiner (ed), Benin kings and rituals: Court arts from Nigeria, Gent: Snoeck; Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum mit MVK und ÖTM 2007, fig.4, p.121, illus. col. as location unknown with a reproduction of p.197 of vol.6 the Pitt Rivers catalogue;
Emilie Owens, ‘Edo people, Royal Court of Benin: Plaque showing the sacrifice of a cow,’ catalogue entry prepared March 2010