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Léon Messagé Cupboards

Léon Messagé had a brilliant, but short-lived career. He is best known for his incredible sculptural collaboration with François Linke for the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle. A gifted sculptor, Messagé was also responsible for much of the design and creative work for Roux et Brunet and Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener. Messagé enjoyed great success as a designer/sculptor before he collaborated with Linke. Indeed, he was mentioned as a Gold Medal winner at the 1889 International Exhibition and was especially praised for his work on a cabinet by Zwiener. He came into contact with Linke in 1885, and it appears from then on Linke employed him regularly. Messagé was primarily influenced by Rococo ornament, but he strove to re-interpret it. He did not produce slavish copies, and his original approach can be appreciated in Linke's celebrated Grande Bibliothèque and Grand Bureau exhibited at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle. Several drawings by Messagé are recorded, and after his success at the exhibition of 1889, he was encouraged to publish his designs. Cahier de dessins & croquis, style Louis XV: bronzes, orfèvrerie, décoration, meubles was first published by the sculptor himself, from his Paris address of 40 rue Sedaine. There were five sections with an elaborate title page surmounted by the sculptor's cipher or talisman of a wing, a pun on his name as the messenger to the Gods, a motif he used many times on the handles of furniture designed for Linke. As a sculptor, Messagé was trained to produce a wax maquette or model before working on a piece. For Messagé, it was not just a matter of producing decorative mounts the piece was conceived as sculpture, bronze, timber and marquetry as one.

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Creator: Léon Messagé
Unique Late 19th Century Gilt Bronze Mounted Cabinet by François Linke
Unique Late 19th Century Gilt Bronze Mounted Cabinet by François Linke

Unique Late 19th Century Gilt Bronze Mounted Cabinet by François Linke

$37,500

Unique Late 19th Century Gilt Bronze Mounted Cabinet by François Linke

By François Linke

Located in Long Island City, NY

A unique late 19th century gilt bronze mounted parquetry cabinet by François Linke and Léon Messagé François Linke and Léon Messagé This unusual cabinet features a cube parquetry top with a back splash centered with a plume of bronze feathers and flowers, above a long single drawer with a bronze leaf-clasped scallop shell and two handles shaped as wings, the sides headed by foliate and flower-cast clasps. The cabinet was most likely made to store magazines or original phonograph records. Stamped FL under many of the bronze mounts, the lock stamped CT LINKE/PARIS Linke was born in Pankraz in Bohemia and was celebrated by the French as one of the greatest ébénistes of meubles de style at the turn of the century. He began his apprenticeship with a Bohemian master at the age of thirteen. Four years later, he toured Austria, settling and working in Vienna for two years. Linke arrived in Paris 1875, and by 1881 he had established his own small workshop at 170 rue du Faubourg St. Antoine. Taking 18th century styles as his starting point and adapting earlier styles to contemporary taste, Linke produced fine quality furniture, steadily expanding his business during the next 20 years. He firmly established his reputation after receiving a gold medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1900 for his extraordinary Grand Bureau. He continued to use international fairs as a means of exploring new markets, exhibiting at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, the Liege in Belgium and the 1908 Franco-British exhibition in London. Linke’s highly original designs sprang from the Régence and Rococo styles but were imbued with something quite new, Rococo curves were laden with gilt-bronze sculptural mounts in the tradition of A.-C. Boulle (1642-1732) or Charles Cressent (1685-1758). Stylistically, the new designs still adhered to the Rococo; the novelty, however, was Linke’s fusion of the Rococo with the liveliness and the fluidity of the ‘art nouveau’. The Revue called Linke’s creations entierement nouveau, and continued to say that ‘Linke’s stand...

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Léon Messagé cupboards for sale on 1stDibs.

Léon Messagé cupboards are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of wood and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Léon Messagé cupboards, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Prices for Léon Messagé cupboards can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $37,500 and can go as high as $37,500, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $37,500.