Meuble Soleil Commode by François Linke

Superior craftsmanship and elegant bronze work characterize this tambour front roll top writing desk by François Linke, the most important French ébéniste of his time. Linke is celeb...

This rare 18th-century serpentine chest of drawers was crafted in the style of the iconic Thomas Chippendale. The George III mahogany dresser is complete with its original brass hand...

Pair of singed Linke bronze mounted and parquetry commodes in the Louis XV style. Parisian made cabinets are signed "F. Linke" on the bronze mounts. S...

A Fantastic Late 19th/Early 20th Century Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze Mounted Commode By François Linke François Linke – Index no. 599 Brèche d’ Alep marble top above one long bronze mounted drawer, the center two drawers bronze mounted with floral wreath and bird, the base mounted with a tambourine and flowing curtains. Signed F. Linke to the right-hand chute, locked stamped Ct. Linke and the number 599. Pictured on Page 493 and Daybook Entry on Page 477 in “François Linke 1855-1946 The Belle Epoque of French Furniture” By Christopher Payne. Designed in 1900, this model commode was conceived en suite with a dressing table, index number 600, and a double bed, number 601. Although clearly started in 1899, a note in the Blue Daybook shows that the ciseleur enriched the chasing on the bronzes much later, in September 1902, and with a fleur de pêcher marble top costing 110 francs. Whereas two of the matching beds and dressing tables were made, Linke made five versions of this commode between 1899 and 1910, with one example made for the compagnie nationale de Buenos-Aires in 1908. 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 in 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...