After Guillaume Coustou the Elder, (French 1677 - 1746), a patinated bronze model of one of the Marly Horses, late 19th century, the rearing beast restrained by a nude groom to one side, on a naturalistically cast base, inscribed COUSTOU to the maquette, 56cm high, 54cm long King Louis XV commissioned Coustou (who had already contributed several statues to the grounds at Marly) to create a pair of sculptures to flank the horse trough or pond at the Chateau de Marly's park. The works, carved from a single block of marble, were completed in the notably short time of just two years and were installed in 1745 In 1795 the Chevaux de Marly had been moved to the Place de la Concorde, narrowly escaping the chateau's demolition in the early 19th century. They remained there until 1984, before finally moving to the Louvre