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François Linke
An Exceptionally Rare and Important Louis XV Style Centre Table
POA
A Gilt-Bronze Mounted Marquetry Table, By François Linke, the Mounts Designed by Léon Messagé. Linke Index No. 930. Signed 'Linke' to the upper...
Dimensions
Height: 75 cm (30 in)Width: 100 cm (40 in)
Depth: 61 cm (25 in)
PrintDescription
A Gilt-Bronze Mounted Marquetry Table, By François Linke, the Mounts Designed by Léon Messagé.
Linke Index No. 930.
Signed ‘Linke’ to the upper bronze moulding.
Stamped ‘FL’ to the reverse of the bronze mounts.
Stamped to the carcass ‘Made in France’.
Of exhibition quality this magnificent table has a fine marquetry inlaid top and sumptuous gilt-bronze mounts, designed and sculpted by Léon Messagé. The shaped gilt-bronze mounted serpentine top is finely inlaid with scrolling bois de bout floral marquetry, above an undulating frieze set to the front with a long drawer and centred by a female mask, the sides are mounted with exuberant scallop-shell mounts and the angles with lively and emotive female espagnolettes emblematic of Modestie and Coquetterie; the table is raised on cabriole legs terminating in shell-capped scrolled sabots.
A rare example in Linke’s oeuvre, the table is a variation of a larger example index number 930, described by Linke as modèle riche, which included an elaborate stretcher with banner-bearing cherubs based on Léon Messagé’s celebrated sculptural group ‘La Source’ (illustrated C. Payne, François Linke: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003; p.172, Pl. 186). Linke workshop’s cliché of the larger modèle riche is illustrated in C. Payne, François Linke: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003; p.483.
The exceptional sculptural mounts are characteristic of the very finest 19th Century furniture created through François Linke and Léon Messagé’s collaboration. Messagé’s enhanced Louis XV Rococo style embraces the asymmetrical lines of designers such as J.A. Meissonnier, to create lively and emotive figures linked by sinuous encadrement, but cleverly modernised to reflect the surge of popularity of the Art Nouveau.
The female busts, referred to by Linke as Coquetterie et Modestie, although reminiscent of the paintings of François Boucher and Flaconet have moved on in their design from the classical espagnolette, introduced by Charles Cressent in the 18th century, to become something new and vital.
Designed for the celebrated ‘Commode coquille: Coquetterie et Modestie’ (index 559), presented at his award-winning stand at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, (C. Payne, François Linke: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003; p.142-144, pl. 151), Linke was obliged to purchase their design at a tremendous cost from Messagé. First castings began in 1897 and they proved fruitful for Linke, becoming a favourite mount, repurposed by Linke for use on a number of important designs.
The larger version of the current table was intended to be displayed en suite with the commode but was not ready in time for the exhibition. It was first exhibited at the Salon des Industries du Mobilier in 1902, and again in Liège in 1905 (C. Payne, François Linke: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003; p. 170-173).
Available in three sizes, 132 cm x 72 cm, 138 x 75 cm and an even larger version (index no. 965) the design proved popular with Linke’s clientele, which included commissions supplied to Elias Meyer in 1909 (Illustrated C. Payne; p.243, pl. 258), Madame d’Astoreca in 1910, Antonio Devoto in 1913 and for King Fuad I’s study at Ras al-Tin, Alexandria, Egypt in the 1920s , (Illustrated C. Payne; p.289, pl. 300).
The present example with its attractive size and absence of a stretcher is a very rare variation with only one other recorded example, a special commission for Ethel Pissis, an American divorcée from San Francisco who married François Linke’s second son Charles in March 1931. (C. Payne, François Linke: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003; p. 319).
France, Circa 1910.
Date
Circa 1920
Origin
France
Medium
Marquetry and Gilt-Bronze
Signature
The upper molding signed 'Linke' and stamped 'FL' to the reverse of the bronze mounts.
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
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; p.300, J29.
