This work comes from the collection of Witold Grunbaum (1921-2007), a former director of Philip Morris. Grunbaum traveled frequently to Africa, and in particular spent a good deal of time in Nigeria. Together with his wife, he assembled an impressive collection of primitive art.

Jörg Schulthess was born in Basel, the son of a father from Emmenthal and a sephardic Jewish mother who had emigrated from Italy. Schuldhess was a close friend of Jean Dubuffet and became interested in and influenced by Art Brut, particularly the work of Adolf Wolfli.