Pair of Mid 19th Century Small Bronze Marly Horses

A Superb Pair of Mid 19th Century Bronze Marly Horses of rare Cabinet size and excellent patina, raised on marble plinths.  Generally this model is much larger (13 - 19 ins high), and sometimes in bronze but all too often in bronzed spelter.  This 4 3/4" high model (excluding the plinth) in bronze is rare, and evidently made for a mantelpiece or Collector's Cabinet, as such carrying a Collector's premium.
     The original over-life-size groups were carved in Marble by Guillaume Coustou in 1739-45 for Louis XV's Chateau horse pond at Marly-le-Roi, inspired by the colossal pair of "Horse Tamers" in Rome copied from the Greek originals.  The pair at Marly-le-Roi were installed in 1745, and in 1795 were taken to Paris to the Place de la Revolution in the Champs Elysees.  In 1984 they were taken to the Louvre to be conserved.
       It's worth hovering over the photos  to zoom in and see the wonderful patination of these gorgeous bronze horses

dimensions
4 3/4"h excluding marble plinth
5 3/4"h including marble plinth
Plinth 5 1/4" x 1" x 3"