A rare piece of porcelain that was part of a lot that sold for almost £1 million at auction could soon be reunited with its identical twin.

The Imperial Chinese bowl was part of a collection formerly owned by retired businessman Tony Evans, from Charing, which sold at The Canterbury Auction Galleries (TCAG) for around £900,000 last May.

Mr Evans and his wife, Anne, sat in the saleroom watching dumbstruck as pieces they had prized for 40 years sold for far more than expected.

One particularly rare piece, a six-inch Imperial porcelain bowl decorated with pheasants, which was estimated to go for between £8,000 and £12,000 sold for a staggering £195,000.

"i put (the bowl) in a cupboard for safekeeping and simply forgot about it. it’s just as well the way things have worked out" – simon evans

Now, astonishingly, the family has “found” its pair, which will be sold at TCAG on April 16 and 17.

About the discovery, Simon Evans said: “A few days after the sale, my father suddenly announced that he thought there might have been a pair of the bowls. He had forgotten completely.

“He’s such a collector he would never knowingly split a pair, but I recalled him giving me a piece of porcelain sometime in the 1980s. I put it in a cupboard for safekeeping and simply forgot about it. It’s just as well the way things have worked out.

“My father kept meticulous records of his purchases but the bowls were not listed and he had no recollection of how much he had paid for them.

"No one could have known back then how important they would become.

“I’ve decided to sell it not because I need the money but because I’m anxious about having something so valuable in the house.”