Francois Linke, Rare & Important Pair of French Ormolu & Vernis Martin Vitrines

A fantastic quality late 19th century Louis XVI style gilt bronze mounted Vernis Martin vitrine cabinet By François Linke A pierced bronze gallery above a bronze mount of a female ...

A French Ormolu Mounted Tulip-Wood Vitrine by Francois Linke Circa 1890 Origin: Paris Height: 66.5" (168cm) Width: 34.5" (87cm) Depth: 17" (43cm) Good condition Ind...

A superb quality French 19th-20th century Louis XV style ormolu-mounted kingwood, satinwood and satine single door figural vitrine by the renown Parisian master craftsman and cabinet...

A Very Fine French 19th-20th Century Louis XV Style Ormolu and Jasperware-Mounted Rosewood, Mahogany and Kingwood Single Door Vitrine, in manner of François Linke (1855-1946). The u...

This rare and stunning vitrine was crafted by the illustrious French ébéniste François Linke. A master of the Louis XVI style, Linke was renowned for his highly original designs that...

A very fine French Louis XV style ormolu and jasperware-mounted mahogany single door vitrine, attributed to François Linke (1855-1946). The two upper front corners surmounted with or...

A very fine French 19th century Louis XV style ormolu mounted plum pudding mahogany veneer, mahogany and Vernis Martin decorated vitrine à Deux Corps, probably by François Linke (1855-1946). The lower structure fitted with finely chased gilt-bronze mounts with female masks, musical instruments, floral drapes, bows and acanthus, centred with a frieze drawer and a cupboard door with three painted panels. The centre front painted panel with a Romantic courting park setting scene amongst sheep and a sculpture fountain of Putti; the side panels both with parks scenes of a resting lion sculpture and fountain flanked by grassing sheep. The lower cabinet interior with three drawers, the upper vitrine case with two glass shelves, a bowed beveled front door and sides, crowned with a fine gilt-bronze wreath mount with ribbons, all raised on four cabriolet legs with cast lion paw mounts. Unsigned, Paris, circa 1890-1900. The style of this cabinet is closely related to those produced in the Paris furniture making trade in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine in the 1880s and as such, without a signature or identifying mark, is unattributable. However, there are similarities with the firm Raoux et Brunet, some of whose mounts were designed by Léon Messagé and later used by François Linke. Indeed many of the mounts on this cabinet, whilst not exclusive to him, are very similar to the work produced in his early years in Paris in the 1880s. At this time Linke was making furniture to order...

A very fine French 19th century Louis XV style Ormolu Mounted Kingwood, Satinwood and Vernis Martin Decorated Single-Door Vitrine, in the manner of François Linke (1855-1946). The wh...

A stunning and unusual French 19th century Louis XV Style gilt bronze-mounted and "Vernis Martin" style bombé tulipwood veneered vitrine cabinet. The serpentine front door vitrine wi...

A palatial and superb early 20th century gilt bronze Mounted Louis XVI style Mahogany Vitrine by François Linke François Linke The arched top with scrolled corners and centered by a laurel wreath and crossed acanthus branches, above a central large door at top by a lyre on drapery-covered plinth, flanked by scrolling acanthus, with a smaller door to each side hung with floral swags and with central oval plate, the divides cast with a slender flower-filled vase, the interior with adjustable shelves and drawers to the bottom, on shaped foliate-cast plinth and acanthus-capped tapering feet. Inscribed F. Linke to the top right bronze mount and stamped “C LINKE” on the back of the locks. 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...