Lot Essay
Guillaume Coustou (d.1746) received the Grand Prix de Sculture in 1697 and was sent to study in Rome. On his return, he set up an atelier in Paris, and was subsequently engaged, together with his brother Nicolas and uncle Coysevox, at the château de Marly under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart (d.1708), premier architecte des Batîments to Louis XV. It was in 1719 that Coustou was commissioned to supply wax models to replace Coysevox's cavaliers, which overlooked the watering place. The chosen model was of 'Deux chevaux échappés arrêtés par des hommes palefreniers', the men sculpted as Indian slaves with their quiver and arrows. Executed from a solid block of Carrara marble, the Marly horses were hailed as the greatest sculptures of the 'new age'. It was not until 1742, however, that they were eventually transferred to Marly and they are now in the musée du Louvre, Paris.