Late 19th Century Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze Mounted Card Table, François Linke

A wonderful late 19th century gilt bronze mounted parquetry envelope game table by François Linke François Linke – Index no. 523 The revolving top wi...

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...

A fine card table in the Louis XVI manner. Constructed in kingwood with purpleheart crossbanding, and dressed with superbly cast and chased mercury gilt bronze mounts; rising from...

This is a rosewood game, card table made in England, circa 1850. The top has rounded corners and a nicely molded edge. The top spins open to reveal storage for game pieces, cards, et...