FRENCH CAST IRON BUTCHER SHOP SIGN Description: This handsome and well modeled cast iron horse head would originally have been displayed outside a French boucherie. In 1866 the Parisian government passed laws authorizing the sale of horse meat for human consumption. With the high cost of living many working-class Parisians were too poor to afford pork or beef. The first Paris butcher shop (boucherie) selling horse meat opened in July 1866. Among the numerous regulations accompanying the new law was the requirement that any shop selling horse meat must prominently make that fact known to the public on the outside of the establishment. This cast iron horse head displays fine detail and a wonderfully aged surface. We have now affixed it to a 19th century French painted door panel with a distressed surface. Circa: 1875 Measurements: Price: $5,800 with panel Phone: 312-738-9747 E-mail: finnegangallery@sbcglobal.net