An old, partly illegible, label on the reverse indicates that the shield was sent to or by a Capt. W.R. Graham of the US army to the pay department in New York

According to George Ellis (1981, p.255) shields of this type become more graceful and attenuated as one moves northwards from the Bontoc into the Kalinga area, reflecting the physical stature of the people, which would suggest that the present example is of Kalinga origin. The correlation between the physical stature of the people and the shape of the shields might also indicate that the shields are of stylised human form, a hypothesis made more credible by the presence of tattoo designs on some examples.