The acquisition list records 1877 as the year of acquisition by Ferdinand von Mueller (1825-1896). Mueller, who emigrated to Australia in 1847, was in the service of the British colony of Victoria as a botanist from 1853, until he was appointed as director of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne from 1857 to 1873. Mueller supported important expeditions into the interior of Australia or took part in them himself. However, he probably did not travel to New Zealand himself – how he came into possession of this object is unknown..