[1] The work was commissioned by Joseph Banks and based on the inflated skin of an animal he had collected from the east coast of Australia in 1770 during Lieutenant James Cook's first voyage of discovery.

[2] It was first exhibited by the Society of Artists in London in 1773 together with his painting of the dingo, Portrait of a Large Dog.

[2] In 2012, The Kongouro from New Holland and Portrait of a Large Dog were purchased together at auction for 9.3 million Australian dollars by an undisclosed buyer.

Sir David Attenborough, who had led a campaign to keep both portraits in Britain, remarked that it was "exciting news that these two pictures, so important in the history of zoological discovery, are to remain where they were commissioned and painted".

[3] In November 2013 it was announced that a £1.5million donation from the Eyal Ofer Family Foundation will enable the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London to acquire the two paintings.