Horse Tamer (after the Marly Horses)

Horse Tamer (after the Marly Horses)

After Guillaume Coustou the Elder (French, 1677–1746)

Cast metal with bronze patina, 20th-century reproduction

Private Collection of Mary Jane Parkinson

This dramatic sculpture is based on Guillaume Coustou’s celebrated Marly Horses—two monumental groups of a groom struggling to restrain a rearing horse, originally carved in marble for the Château de Marly under King Louis XV. The sweeping mane, powerful anatomy of the horse, and straining figure of the handler express the tension between human will and untamed animal strength.

Smaller bronzes and metal casts after Coustou’s originals became highly popular from the 19th century onward, bringing one of France’s most iconic equestrian monuments into private homes and collections around the world, including that of Arabian-horse historian Mary Jane Parkinson.