The present bust is one of a series of similar busts all of which are related to a full length figure of a Negro boy with mural crown in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, signed by de Cock and dated 1704 (Leeuwenberg and Halsema-Kubes, loc. cit.). None of the busts appears to be identical to any of the others; the most notable difference involving the medallion worn on a chain around the boy's neck. In the present example the medallion bears a relief of a cardinal's hat, but other examples, as with the bust sold from the Montague Meyer Family Collection (Christie's, London, 29 April, 1980, lot 55) bear portrait reliefs.
It has been suggested that these images are indicative of an allegiance on the part of the negro page boy to a particular master. However, as it is not at all clear that the busts are intended to be portraits of historical characters, the medallion may simply be a clue to the identity of the patron who commissioned each marble.
A nearly identical plaster example of the present bust was sold from the collection of the Late Sir Martin Wilson, Bt.; Sotheby's, 1 November, 1991, lot 331.