After finding the unusual and large figure of Queen Mary earlier last year, Dutch dealer Robert Aronson set about finding her partner and eventually located a Delftware gentleman, dressed in similar relaxed style and carrying the same flower basket, in a Paris collection.
The figures are attributed to the Greek A Factory in Delft, where Queen Mary, a passionate collector of Delftware and blue and white porcelain, ordered many pieces for Hampton Court Palace.
The male figure is marked AK, the signature for Adriaen Kocks, owner of the Greek A Factory from 1686 to 1701.
Royal Separation
"It's hard to say for sure how long it has been since this large 16½in (42cm) pair of Royal figures was separated," says Mr Aronson. "But records show the male figure had been in a French collection until 1978 and hence by descent.
"Coincidentally, we learned that in about 1979 the figure of Her Majesty became part of a private collection in Antwerp. Not surprisingly, restoration reveals that both figures had been restored in the 1950s with exactly the same restoration materials, of English origin."
The pair will be exhibited together for the first time at The Winter Antique Show in New York from January 23-February 1 with a price of $950,000.
