Belle Époque Center Tables

A Nice Late 19th / Early 20th Century Gilt Bronze Mounted Center Table The rouge marble top above a bronze mounted frieze, raised on cabriole legs. Stamped Gaumeloose to the carcas...

An Exceptional Late 19th Century Gilt Bronze Mounted Louis XV Style Kingwood and End Cut Foliate Marquetry Vitrine Table by François Linke François Linke – Index Number 168 Slightly bombe serpentine outline, the hinged top with a beveled glass top lifting to reveal a red felt lined interior, the conforming marquetry waved frieze inlaid with floral budding foliage, centered to the front and back with a stylized ‘crab’ acanthus escutcheon, the sides with ribbon-tied laurel mounts, standing on cabriole legs headed by foliate clasps running to scrolled acanthus sabots. Inscribed F. Linke to the top right rim. The same model table is pictured on page 165 in “François Linke 1855-1946 The Belle Epoque of French Furniture” By Christopher Payne. Featuring Linke’s signature ‘crab’ clasp, index number 168 was simultaneously produced both as a vitrine-table or bijoutière and a center-table. Each variation was also available with either chutes ‘à fleurs’ to the angles, as in the present example, or with chutes ‘à caryatides’. The low number of 168 itself is an indication that it is a very early model from Linke’s stable. 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...

French marble top gilt centre table This is a very attractive Table, the long centre table is carved all the way around, it could also be used as...

A wonderful 19th century French butcher/ pastry table from the South of France. Handsomely constructed with a cast iron base with its original and beautiful weathered marble top. Gre...

Antique Italian inlaid walnut coffee - Center table features a beautifully carved pedestal support held up by four intricately scrolled and carved legs. The top, however, steals the ...

A very fine late 19th century gilt bronze mounted kingwood bureau plat Surmounted by a shaped gilt-tooled leather writing surface, the front fitted with three frieze drawers, the central one flanked to each side by pierced foliate scrolls, the back with simulated drawers, the sides each centered by a female mask, on four cabriole legs, each headed by a warrior bust...

Italian Belle Époque style painted and partial gilt center table with onyx top, circa 1920s.

Fine Louis XV style ormolu-mounted ladies writing table by Francois Linke A lovely, elegant Louis XV style bronze-mounted mahogany ladies writing table, or side table, with one dr...

A fine and rare Louis XVI style table de salon, by Francois Linke. A fine quality table with exquisite bronze mounts along with detailed marquetry inlay...

A fantastic late 19th century Louis XV style gilt bronze-mounted inlaid marquetry table By Paul Sormani A wonderful inlaid floral marquetry top with a bronze boarder above thre...

A nice quality late 19th century gilt bronze mounted Louis XV Style malachite center table Decorative malachite top above bronze frieze, bronze-mounted tapering legs sitting on lion paw feet. Malachite is a semi-precious stone and also a valuable copper ore, hydrous copper carbonate. It is a beautiful green earth stone...

An exceptionally fine late 19th century Louis XVI style gilt bronze-mounted mahogany centre table By Joseph Zwiener In the manner of the 18th century model by Riesener. The rectangular marble top above a frieze drawer, raised on square tapering legs, the whole cast with masks, floral garlands, ribbons, cascading flowers and set with Jasper plaques. Born in Herdon, Germany, in 1849, Joseph Emmanuel Zwiener followed the tradition of some of the best ébnistes of the nineteenth century. He moved to Paris establishing a workshop at 12, rue de la Roquette, between 1880 and 1895. He produced a wide array of the very finest furniture, modeling in his own interpretations of the 18th century Louis XV Rococo style, veneered with the highest and finest quality marquetry and 'Vernis Martin' panels. Exhibiting at the Exposition Universelle, Paris, in 1889, Zwiener was awarded a gold medal for what the jury reported as 'dè ses dèbuts à une Exposition Universelle, [il] s'est mi au premier rang par la richesse, la hardinesse, et le fini de ses meubles incrustés de bronze et fort habilment marquetés.' Zwiener was closely associated with François Linke, and the two houses produced work which, at first glance, is remarkably similar and with occasionally identical mounts. The similarities are made more likely by the fact that the brilliant sculptor, Léon Messagé, worked initially for Zwiener and subsequently, upon Zwiener's departure for Berlin to work on furniture commissioned by Freidrich Wilhelm II , he was employed in the workshop of François Linke. It appears that Zwiener, unlike Linke, did not sign all his work, although some stamped pieces with his name and/or his "Z" initial are documented. There is some uncertainty between the recorded stamp E. Zwiener and the work of a Julius Zwiener...