An Ormolu-Mounted Kingwood Marquetry and Parquetry Side Table

Attributed to François Linke, circa 1890

Stamped inside the drawer with numbers 8120

29 in (73.7 cm) high, 23 in (58.5 cm) wide, 17 ¾ in (42.5 cm) deep

cf. Christopher Payne, Francois Linke 1855-1946: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, 2003, p.489

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his contemporaries such as Beurdeley and Dasson, Linke’s oeuvre included renditions of important 18th-century furniture originally made for the royal family.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.