ATTRIBUTED TO PIETER XAVERY (1647-1674), SECOND HALF 17TH CENTURY

This female figure has previously been identified as Princess Caroline of Orange and paired with a figure of a young boy, traditionally thought to portray William V of Orange, and attributed to Jan Baptist Xavery (1697-1742). However, the style of the terracotta bears more resemblance to that of Pieter Xavery, also a Flemish sculptor. His subject matter tended towards secular images: such as Lady with a Lapdog, Two Madmen and Lady Portrayed as Flora, all of which are signed and date to 1673 (illustrated in J. Leeuwenberg and W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1973, nos. 328-330).
If this terracotta female figure is attributed to either of the Xaverys, the identification of the model as Princess Caroline must be discarded, given that both Pieter and Jan Baptist were dead by 1742 and that Caroline was not born until 1743.