François Linke 1855 - 1946 A gilt-bronze mounted mahogany, kingwood, satiné trellis parquetry, and satinwood marquetry center table, Paris, late 19th century

the top decorated with fruitwood drapery banding marquetry, the stretcher joined by a basket

Sotheby’s New York, A Private Collection: Important French Furniture and Decorations, including signed Furniture and Items from the Linke Family Private Collection, April 19, 2007, p. 107, lot 70, for the exact same mount centering the frieze see index number 848

This type of table fulfilled many functions throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, either for display or writing, and could either have remained stationary or been moved as needed. It could have been placed in the center of a room as well, and for this reason it is decorated elaborately on all four sides. It would often be used to display candelabra, flower-filled vases, centerpieces or clocks.

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.