François Linke 1855 - 1946 A rare gilt-bronze mounted mahogany and vernis-Martin decorated vitrine, Paris, late 19th/early 20th century

the demi-lune shaped base with interfaced foliate chute, beneath a pair of small vernis-Martin decorated cupboard doors, the glazed cabinet opening to two glass shelves

Sotheby’s New York, A Private Collection: Important French Furniture and Decorations, including signed Furniture and Items from the Linke Family Private Collection, October 26, 2006, p. 70, lot 47, for the similar interlaced foliate corner mounts on the center table index number 1116, made circa 1902

This type of vitrine cabinet was intended to be placed in a living room against a wall, and the glazed cupboard meant to exhibit small objects of vertu such as gold-mounted boxes or small porcelain items. Interestingly, as the vitrine combines an upper structure and a demi-lune table stand, the owner could use it as a writing table enhanced by two vernis-Martin decorated doors opening to filing cabinets.

The term vernis-Martin arises from a circa 1730 invention by the four Martin brothers: Guillaume, Julien, Robert and Simon Étienne. This technique consisted of decorating furniture and objects with the imitation of Chinese or Japanese lacquer. The decor was painted on paper or canvas, which was then applied to the object to be decorated with glue and then varnish.

François Linke (1855-1946) was undoubtedly the most important Parisian ébéniste of his time. Having served an apprenticeship in his home town of Pankraz, Bohemia, Linke arrived in Paris in 1875 and set up independent workshops at 170, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine in 1881 and later also at 26, Place Vendôme. By the time of the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, Linke's worldwide reputation as a master of high individualism and inventiveness was already established and unmatched by his contemporaries.  His success at the 1900 exhibition afforded Linke a high degree of financial stability and allowed him to pursue new markets by exhibiting at subsequent international fairs. Like the inventories of contemporaries such as Beurdeley and Dasson, Linke's oeuvre included copies and adaptations of the distinct styles of eighteenth century important and royal French furniture. However, his most extravagant exhibition pieces combined the Louis XV style with the new Art Nouveau style. Linke's frequent collaborator for his designs was the celebrated sculptor Léon Messagé.  In 1904, he was made Officier de L’Instruction Publique, and in 1905 he was called to be a member of the Jury of the Liège exhibition.  Following his stands in the St- Louis (U.S.A.) exhibition in 1904 and the Liège exhibition in 1905, Linke was decorated with the highest distinction of France, the Croix de la Légion d’Honneur, on October 11, 1906.