François Linke French, 1855 - 1946 A rare Louis XV style gilt bronze-mounted kingwood, satiné and floral bois de bout marquetry table à écrire Paris, circa 1923, index number 930

fitted with a long frieze drawer, the proper left hand side chute signed Linke

Christopher Payne, François Linke 1855-1946 The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Antique Collector’s Club Ltd., Woodbridge, 2003.

Overall in good condition and presentation with the usual minor hairline scratches and minute nicks to veneers and carcass consistent with age and use. Tarnishing to gilt-bronze in places also consistent with age and atmospheric conditions through the years. Traces of lacquer to bronze. Each bronze foot with oxidation.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

According to the information in the Linke registre, the present lot may well be a unique commission for Ethel Pissis, the American divorcé from San Francisco who married François Linke’s second son Charles in March 1931. Like many Americans at the time and even now, the Pissis family were great Francophiles and both Ethel’s father and grandfather spent considerable time in Paris in the 1920s. Dr. Jose Pissis was one of the most influential and prolific architects in San Francisco at the peak of his fame at the time of the earthquake and subsequent fire of 1904 and the family ordered a series of pieces from Linke including what must surely be the present lot, Commande 2463, started in 1923. Marked in the Linke registre as ‘suivant indication speciales, 2 tablettes tirants, deux dessus marqueterie pas de plateau glace’, it would seem to be a very specific order and probably unique, made at a cost of 7,275 French francs. First made between in 1904, this was one of Linke’s most sought after models, the more common example titled ‘Table Louis XV régence violette et quadrilles satiné, avec filets, plateau glace mobile, entrejambe Cupidon’. In typical Linke manner he uses the same corner chutes and upper supports with intricate foliate mounts following the serpentine frieze, the chutes also repeated on a table number 168. An earlier variation of this type of table was made by Linke as index number 610, with a removable glass tray top and no stretcher. The supports for the top were also used on number 610, exhibited at the Gold Medal winning Paris Exposition universelle of 1900 (see Payne, Linke, p. 145, pl. 152 & p. 494).

Footnote courtesy of Christopher Payne.

Franҫois 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’ Iinstruction 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.