MARK OF ASSAY OFFICE, LONDON, 1979, AFTER PIERRE-JULES MENE

Listed as number 39 in his catalogue, Cheval libre is the stallion half of one of Mêne's most celebrated works, known as l'Accolade, but exhibited in wax at the 1852 Salon under the title Tachiani et Nedjébé, chevaux arabes (no. 1479; J. Horswell, Les Animaliers, 1971, p. 164).