Huge Mantel Clock Late Nineteenth Century

Belgian black marble mantel clock surmounted by a large bronze group with a medal patina depicting a groom holding a horse, known as "Cheval de Marly", after Guillaume Coustou (1677-1746). This sculpture depict an interpretation of a wild nature and a struggle between two savage forces : an untamed horse and a naked man with athlete muscles tensed by the effort. Period mechanical in working order. Small chips on the black marble of Belgium.

Period : 1890
Origin : France
Height : 36.22 in
Width : 25.78 in
Depth : 11.61 in

Horses of Marly are two sculpted groups showing rearing horses and their grooms. Made out of carrera marble, they were made between 1743 and 1745 by Guillaume Coustou. They were ordered by king Louis XVth and were meant to ornate the trough at the entrance of the Chateau Marly's park and also to replace two sculptures by Antoine Coysevox : Mercury and Renommée riding Pegasus. In 1794, on artist David's will, they were transfered to Place de la Concorde, Paris and are erected on high pedestals at the Champs Elysée's entrance. In 1984, they were transfered to the Louvre Museum in an old yard of the Richelieu section transformed into a patio called the Cours Marly.