An Ormolu-Mounted and Kingwood Marquetry and Parquetry Centre Table

By François Linke, circa 1890

The serpentine shaped top above cabriole legs mounted with chutes 'à caryatides, the reverse of the gilt bronze mounts signed FL

30 in (76.2 cm) high, 44 in (112 cm) wide, 26 in (68 cm) deep

cf. Christopher Payne, Francois Linke 1855-1946 The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, p. 165, pl.179, p. 291, pl. 301

François Linke was undoubtedly the most important Parisian ébéniste of his time. Having served an apprenticeship in his home town of Pankraz, Bohemia, Linke arrived in Paris in 1875 and set up independent workshops at 170 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine in 1881 and later also at 26 Place Vendôme. By the time of the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, Linke’s worldwide reputation as a master of high individualism and inventiveness was already established and unmatched by his contemporaries. His success at the 1900 exhibition afforded him financial stability and allowed him to pursue new markets by exhibiting at subsequent international fairs. Like his contemporaries such as Beurdeley and Dasson, Linke’s oeuvre included renditions of important 18th-century furniture originally made for the royal family. His most extravagant exhibition pieces combined the Louis XV style with the new Art Nouveau style.

Linke’s frequent collaborator in design was the celebrated sculptor Léon Messagé. In 1904, Linke was made Officier de L’Instruction Publique, and in 1905 he was called to be a member of the Jury of the Liège exhibition. His displays at the St Louis exhibition in 1904 and the Liège exhibition in 1905 won Linke France’s highest distinction, the Croix de la Légion d’honneur, awarded on October 11, 1906.

Examination of the registres and the documentation obtained by Linke illustrates the huge scale of his furnishing projects for the King of Egypt, Fuad I. He made more than 1,200 items including fireplaces as well as furniture, wall-lights and chandeliers. One of those items was a bureau plat identical to this one. A period photograph of the King’s study at Ras al-Tin residence in Alexandria, Egypt, shows a bureau plat proudly displayed.