françois linke A Pair of carved Giltwood wall brackets paris, 1910-1920

C. Payne, Linke, p. 19, pl. 7; illustrated p. 432, pl. 508.
A. Pradère, p. 435 for a discussion on the 18th. century regulation of the stamp

There is no documentation in the Linke archives that refers to the present lot. However the stamped signature 'F.Linke Paris', in an oval, is a clear indication that these unusual brackets are from the Linke workshops. The stamp, inevitably with the lettering in reverse, can be seen on the left of the group of five stamps Linke is known to have used in C. Payne, Linke, p. 19, pl. 7. Payne writes 'Like his eighteenth century forebears in Paris, Linke also used a series of metal stamps, especially for chair frames and gilt wood furniture without bronze mounts', such as the present lot. The Parlement had made it imperative for each master or maître to own a metal stamp or estampille with his name on it. Such stamps had been obligatory in the eighteenth century from 1751 under the guild system of the ancien régime but were rendered unnecessary by the dissolution of the guilds that occurred soon after the French revolution of 1796.

Gilt wood furniture from Linke’s workshops is the least well recorded of his highly ordered establishment. It is most likely that many of the specialist wood carvers and chair makers were able to hire a bench within the Linke atelier and produce work for Linke at a reduced rate but at the same time make items for other clients during slack periods. Such long established craftsmen in Linke's workshops were Langlois, Derivy and Guérin whose standards of workmanship is invariably high as wood be expected from the exacting Linke. The present lot at first glance looks like cast and gilt bronze, so crisp are the details and with such a hardened look to the gilding.