The vase was found in fragments in 1770 in the grounds of the Villa of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, near Rome. It was restored and was given to the Earl of Warwick who displayed it at Warwick Castle in England. In 1979 it was sold to an American buyer but the export license with withheld until money could be found to keep it in the UK. This is when it found its way in to the Burrell collection in Glasgow.