19th Century
Cast Iron Hitching Post
The harness on the horse head indicates a carriage horse.
There are many hitching posts of this design in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana which were made in Baltimore Md originally. This piece came from a horse farm located outside of Baltimore.
Curiously, this iconic American design was copied at Disneyworld for their main street hitching posts in both California and Florida. According to Jim Korkis, the horse-head hitching posts on Main Street at both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom were designed by Emile Kuri (Mary Poppins set director). He based them on an antique hitching post that was given to him as a gift by the owner of the 1840 mansion where the academy award winning movie ‘The Heiress,’ was filmed (1949).
Deborah Dean's DESIGN BLOG 