Pongo's little brother

The plot of P. G. Wodehouse's story "Doing Father a Bit of Good" (Strand Magazine, June 1920, later collected as chapters X-XI of Indiscretions of Archie) revolves around the fate of Pongo, a china figure of the Ming dynasty property of Mr. Brewster, representing "a warrior of pre-khaki days advancing with a spear upon some adversary who, judging from the contented expression on the warrior's face, was smaller than himself."

Parker, the valet whom Mr. Brewster has fired for wearing his shirts, tells Archie Moffam that he can do his ex-employer a bit of good by acquiring the companion piece for Pongo, without which such antiques have little value.

At the auction, the figure "was undoubtedly the companion-figure to the redoubtable Pongo. The two were identical. Even from where he sat Archie could detect on the features of the figure on the pedestal the same expression of insufferable complacency which had alienated his sympathies from the original Pongo." Archie, Bill Brewster and Professor Binstead, all instigated by Parker, bid against each other until the figure sells for an exorbitant sum. In the end the figure turns out to be Pongo himself, stolen by Parker.

Now, the truth is that chinese figures of the Mind dynasty often do come in pairs. However, they are never identical but complementary. Archie's first intuition that Pongo's adversary must be someone smaller was well founded. It might have been another warrior in a defensive stance, or cowering. What it could hardly be is another warrior in exactly the same attitude. Below are some examples from online auctions. Notice that the balance within each pair is given by their gestures, accessories or the role/gender of each figure.

It is understandable that young men of volatile minds like Archie and Bill are not aware of this and fall for Parker's trick. It is less understandable in the case of Professor Binstead, who is introduced as a connoisseur in antiques and yet fails to see the imposture at the auction, and also Mr. Brewster the collector, who receives the figure and is preparing to place it next to Pongo before discovering the theft.