It is not certain how this object came into the Royal Collection. It is possible that its arrived as a result of Queen Mary's growing interest in acquiring jade carvings; but it is equally possible that it was one of the items presented by the Qianlong Emperor to George III. The Emperor was keen to emphasise the antiquity of Chinese culture and animal carvings, such as this, were designed to follow the ancient and unnatural styling of those created during the Han Empire (206 BC–AD 220) and following periods.