François Linke

A Rare Pair of Belle Epoque Gilt-Bronze Mounted Marble Top Commodes

France, Circa 1890

POA

A Rare Pair of Belle Epoque Gilt-Bronze Mounted Marble Top Commodes by François Linke. Linke Index Number: 245, signed ‘Linke’ to the right-hand...

Dimensions

Height: 96 cm (38 in)
Width: 133 cm (53 in)
Depth: 59 cm (24 in)
REF NO : B66538

Description

A Rare Pair of Belle Epoque Gilt-Bronze Mounted Marble Top Commodes by François Linke.

Linke Index Number: 245, signed ‘Linke’ to the right-hand espagnolettes, the locks stamped ‘L. Vasseur/Paris’.
Linke Title: ‘Commode Louis XV à trois tiroirs avec marqueterie violette’.

The gilt-bronze mounted bombe cases are set with three drawers with scrolling foliate encadrement and the corners are mounted with male and female espagnolettes. Dating from circa 1890, these commodes formed part of the furnishings of Linke’s private apartment at the Quai Henri IV, on the right bank of the Seine in Paris.

One of the present commodes, identifiable by the patterning to its marble top, in François Linke’s showrooms at 170 Faubourg Saint Antoine (Courtesy Christopher Payne/Linke Archive).

One of the present commodes, identifiable by the patterning to its marble top, in François Linke’s showrooms at 170 Faubourg Saint Antoine (Courtesy Christopher Payne/Linke Archive).

The original design for this model commode was an early example of the collaboration between Linke and Léon Messagé, inspired by a smaller commode of similar spirit as shown in Messagé’s personal sketchbook (illus. C.Payne, Linke, pl. 63). However, the Blue Daybook drawing shows the fully developed commode with the distinctive winged foliate handles that Messagé favoured. It might be assumed that this device is Messagé’s idea of an amusing play on his own family name, the wings being the attributes of Mercury the messenger.

 

Linke’s sketch and registre record for Index Number: 245 (Courtesy Christopher Payne/Linke Archive).

Linke’s sketch and registre record for Index Number: 245 (Courtesy Christopher Payne/Linke Archive).

Linke produced this in two sizes and in several variations – this parquetry version, a bulrush marquetry model and a plain veneered model. The bulrush version is illustrated in: Adrian Alan, Vol V, p.60-61.

France, Circa 1890.

 

Date

Circa 1890

Origin

France

Medium

Gilt Bronze

Signature

Signed ‘Linke’ to the right-hand espagnolettes. Linke Index Number: 245 - ‘Commode Louis XV à trois tiroirs avec marqueterie violette’.

François Linke

François Linke (1855 – 1946) was the most important Parisian cabinet maker of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and possibly the most sought after cabinet maker of his period.

He was born in 1855 in the small village of Pankraz, in what is now the Czech Republic. Records show that Linke served an apprenticeship with the master cabinetmaker Neumann, then in 1875 at the age of 20 he arrived in Paris where he lived until he died in 1946.

It is known that the fledgling Linke workshops were active in Paris in the Faubourg St. Antoine as early as 1881, and during this time he supplied furniture for other more established makers such as Jansen and Krieger.

The quality of Linke’s craftsmanship was unsurpassed by any of his contemporaries and reached its peak with his spectacular stand at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, where his Grand Bureau took the gold medal. He gambled his fortune and reputation on this stand, exhibiting several breathtaking items of furniture with sculptural mounts of the most exceptional quality and proportion. His gamble worked and his reputation was established to such an extent that Linke continued to be the pre-eminent furniture house in Paris until the Second World War.

As the Art Journal reported in 1900 on Linke’s stand:
‘The work of M. Linke … was an example of what can be done by seeking inspiration amongst the classic examples of Louis XV and XVI without in any great sense copying these great works. M. Linke’s work was original in the true sense of the word, and as such commended itself to the intelligent seeker after the really artistic things of the Exhibition. Wonderful talent was employed in producing the magnificent pieces of furniture displayed….’

The formation of Linke’s distinctive style was made possible by his collaboration with the sculptor Léon Messagé. Together Linke and Messagé designed furniture for Linke’s 1900 exhibition stand, with exuberant allegorical figures cast in high relief, that exemplified Linke’s ability to seamlessly merge the different mediums of wood carving, bronze and marquetry into a dynamic unified whole.

Today Linke is best known for the exceptionally high quality of his work, as well as his individualism and inventiveness. All of his work has the finest, most lavish mounts, very often applied to comparatively simple carcasses. The technical brilliance of his work and the artistic change that it represented were never to be repeated.

Bibliography:
Payne, Christopher. François Linke, (1855 – 1946), The Belle Époque 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; pp. 298 – 300.
Ledoux – Lebard, Denise. Les Ébénistes du XIXe siècle, Les Editions de l’Amateur, (Paris), 1984; pp. 439-43.
Revue Artistique & Industrielle, (Paris), July-August 1900.
Coral Thomsen, D. (ed), The Paris Exhibition 1900, The Art Journal, 1901; p.341.

Provenance

François Linke’s personal collection, Quai Henri IV, Paris, and by descent in the Linke family.

 

Literature

Payne, Christopher. François Linke, 1855 – 1946, The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Antique Collectors Club, (Woodbridge, UK), 2003; pp. 68-9, pl. 63-65.

Shipping & Handling
Due to the individual nature of shipping our items, shipping will be arranged after purchase.