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François Linke
A Rare and Important Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Centre Table with ‘Pietre Dure’ Specimen Marble Top
£165,000
A Rare and Important Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Centre Table with 'Pietre Dure' Specimen Marble Top, By François Linke, Paris, Index Number 616. This...
Dimensions
Height: 76 cm (30 in)Diameter: 106 cm (42 in)
PrintDescription
A Rare and Important Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Centre Table with ‘Pietre Dure’ Specimen Marble Top, By François Linke, Paris, Index Number 616.
This magnificent centre table has a ‘Pietre Dure’ hardstone mosaic top incorporating various precious marbles. The frieze is mounted to each side with a rectangular gilt-bronze plaque cast in relief with putti representing sculpture. The tapering legs are headed by swagged acanthus garlands running to leaf-cast and pomegranate-form feet.
The surround of the gilt-bronze top with engraved signature ‘F. Linke’.
The remarkable marble top is comprised of radiating roundels and spears of precious marble including levanto rouge, violet brocatelle, viollette de Villette, vert d’Irlande, vert antique, which are all inset within a bleu Belge marble ground. It is an excellent example of the art of ‘Pietre Dure’ (or hard stones) which has been prized throughout the history of the decorative arts and admired for its beauty and technical prowess akin to ‘painting in stone’.
The origins of the technique can be traced to the classical world when precious stones were sourced from across the Roman Empire, from Algeria to the Alps, and was revived towards the end of the 16th century following excavations of archaeological sites. Marbles and hardstones were prized for their connection to Ancient Rome, and fragments of especially precious stones, such as porphyry excavated from the Roman Forum, were reworked into ‘Pietre Dure’ objects and incorporated into mosaic tabletops. The fashion for ‘Pietre Dure’ led to the establishment of workshops in Rome, soon followed by Florence.
The geometric inlay to the present table is inspired by early renaissance ‘intarsias’ created by the Cosmati family, who created works by taking marble from ancient Roman ruins, and arranging the fragments in geometrical decorations.
The magnificent marble tabletop was designed to complement the table base which is richly adorned with neoclassical attributes, such as the swagged acanthus leaves which are associated with enduring life. The frieze of the table to four sides is applied with finely cast gilt-bronze plaques cast in relief with cherubs which are depicted in the divine pursuits of painting and sculpting. The Greco-Roman references are reinforced by the design of the table base which is conceived in the neoclassical style based on the ‘Table des Muses’ by Jean-Henri Riesener, which was made for Louis XVI by Jean-Henri Riesener and now on display at the Petit Trianon, Versailles.
A photograph of a table of this model in the Linke Archive, illustrated in C. Payne, ‘François Linke: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture’, Woodbridge, 2003, p. 495, pl. 616
The maker of the table is François Linke who is the most famous and highly prized Parisien ébéniste of the Belle Epoque. Linke is renowned for the exceptional quality of his craftsmanship, use of rich materials and the fine proportions of his creations. Linke’s title for this table ‘Grand guéridon Louis XVI, pietment de la table Muse, dessus marbre assemblés, bronzes dorés mats’ also refers to its design being based on the celebrated ‘Table des Muses’ by Riesener. The Linke Archives record this table by its Index Number 616 and it is a rare model with only two examples known to have been made.
France, Circa 1900.
Date
Circa 1900
Origin
France
Signature
The surround of the gilt-bronze top with engraved signature 'F. Linke'.
François Linke (1855–1946)
François Linke was the most celebrated ébéniste of the late 19th and early 20th-century Belle Époque period. His furniture is highly prized for its exceptional craftsmanship and refined design. Like many of his contemporaries, Linke produced pieces reviving the French historical styles of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI. However, he also pioneered entirely new designs in collaboration with the sculptor Léon Messagé. Described as Le Style Linke, these creations blend Rococo exuberance with the fluidity of Art Nouveau and were unveiled to great acclaim at the 1900 Paris International Exhibition.
François Linke’s gold medal winning stand at the 1900 Paris Exhibition (courtesy Christopher Payne / Linke Archive).
Born on 17 June 1855 in the small village of Pankraz, now in the Czech Republic, Linke served an apprenticeship with the master cabinet maker, Neumann, which he completed in 1877. By the age of eighteen, he was in Vienna, where he likely visited the 1873 International Exhibition. There, he would have admired the luxurious furniture of leading Parisian firms such as Beurdeley, Dasson, Grohé, and Fourdinois.
Linke arrived in Paris in 1875, reportedly on Christmas Day. Though not certain, it is believed he worked for the renowned German cabinetmaker Emmanuel Zwiener, whose innovative designs undoubtedly influenced Linke’s style. In 1878, he would have witnessed the third major International Exhibition in Paris, a symbol of France’s recovery following the Franco-Prussian War.
By 1881, Linke had established his own workshops in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, supplying furniture to prominent firms such as Jansen and Krieger. The 1889 World’s Fair in Paris, marked by the unveiling of the Eiffel Tower, further fuelled his ambition. He was particularly inspired by Emmanuel Zwiener’s exhibits at the fair, especially a jewel cabinet designed by Léon Messagé and purchased by Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (1847-1928).
(Frontispiece to Léon Messagé’s compendium of designs titled ‘Cahier des Dessins & Croquis Style Louis XV’).
Léon Messagé (1842-1901) was the design genius behind Linke’s furniture for the 1900 exhibition. He sculpted the figural bronzes and created a new design vocabulary which fused the rococo with the Art Nouveau which became known as “Le Style Linke”.
As early as 1892, the French government announced plans for another grand exhibition at the century’s end, partly to pre-empt Berlin from staging the last great show of the century. Victor Champier, one of the commissioners for the 1900 Paris Fair appealed “Create in the manner of the masters, do not copy what they have made.” Linke rose to this challenge against mere reproduction with bold originality. His pièce de résistance was Le Grand Bibliothèque, an astonishing bookcase that embodied his new style.
Linke’s masterpiece ‘La Grande Bibliothèque’ illustrated in ‘La Décoration et l’ameublement à l’Exposition de 1900’, v. 1, by Armand Guèrinet, Paris, 1900, page p. 8, pl. 1.
‘La Grande Bibliothèque’ shown on Adrian Alan’s stand at the Olympia Art & Antiques Fair.
Perhaps the most remarkable chapter in Linke’s career was his decision to produce such extravagant and luxurious furniture for the 1900 Exhibition without any commission or guaranteed buyer.
François Linke’s official exhibitor’s pass for the 1900 exhibition (courtesy Christopher Payne / Linke Archive).
While long-established houses like Beurdeley and Dasson were closing, Linke risked everything on this ambitious display. He recognized the need to attract an international clientele, particularly the emerging nouveau riche who were amassing wealth at an unprecedented scale. Had his gamble failed, bankruptcy would have been almost certain. In this sense, Linke was arguably the greatest furniture entrepreneur of the Belle Époque, and perhaps of any era.
The Grand Bureau made for the 1900 Paris Exhibition. The desk represents the “Productivity of France and Man”. Its iconography symbolises the power and confidence of human achievement, the crowning glory of the fin de siècle. As such it reflects the whole ethos of the 1900 exhibition – to look forward to a new age.
Linke’s notebooks record visitors from across the globe to his stand, including royalty, aristocrats, and industrialists: the King of Sweden; the King of Belgium (who visited three times); Prince Radziwill; the Prince d’Arenberg; Comte Alberic du Chastel; American heiress Anna May Gould; distinguished furniture makers; and French President Émile Loubet.
Solly Joel (Solomon Barnato Joel), (1865-1931), financier and ‘King of Diamonds’was reported as the major buyer of Linke’s furniture at the 1900 Exhibition. Linke’s delivery book records four pieces, the Grand Bureau, index number 550, the associated armchair, number 703, the inkwell, number 709 and the Mars and Venus Cabinet, number 701. The following year Joel also bought the Grand Bibliothèque.
His gamble was a resounding success. With his reputation firmly established, Maison Linke became the pre-eminent furniture maker until the outbreak of the Second World War. The technical brilliance of his work and the artistic change that it represented was never to be repeated. Linke expanded his showrooms to prestigious premises in Paris, including the Place Vendôme and the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, where his workshop had been established.
F. Linke signature.
In the years leading up to World War I, Linke undertook many major commissions for leading international industrialists and financiers. He is also reputed to have supplied furniture to the Kaiser. After the war, Linke was commissioned to furnish the Ras al-Tin Palace in Alexandria for King Fuad of Egypt, possibly the largest single furniture commission ever attempted, even eclipsing Versailles.
Linke flourished and remained active well into the 1930s and passed died in 1946. His legacy endures as a master of his craft and a visionary who reshaped the art of furniture-making for the modern age.
Linke’s life and work are comprehensively documented by Christopher Payne in ‘François Linke 1855-1946: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture’.
View our stock of available items by François Linke
Bibliography:
Ledoux – Lebard, Denise. Les Ébénistes du XIXe siècle, Les Editions de L’Amateur, (Paris), 1984; pp. 440-444.
Payne, Christopher. François Linke 1855-1946: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture. Antique Collectors’ Club, (Woodbridge, UK), 2003.
Meyer, Jonathan. Great Exhibitions – London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, 1851-1900, Antique Collectors’ Club, (Woodbridge, UK), 2006.
Mestdagh, Camille & Lécoules, Pierre. L’Ameublement d’Art Français, 1850-1900, Les Editions de L’Amateur, (Paris), 2010.
Payne, Christopher. Paris Furniture – the luxury market of the 19th century, Éditions Monelle Hayot (Paris), 2018; pp.436-456
C. Payne, ‘François Linke: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture’, Woodbridge, 2003, p. 495, pl. 616 (a table of this model illustrated).
