- 159
A gilt-bronze mounted kingwood, mahogany, and end-cut marquetry center table by François Linke, Paris circa 1900
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed
Description
- height 30 1/4 in.; width 53 1/4 in.; depth 31 1/2 in.
- 76.8 cm; 135.2 cm; 80 cm
the shaped brèche d'alep marble top above bombé sides decorated by trailing foliage marquetry and fitted to the front with a single drawer, decorated overall by crab and acanthus cast mounts, the cabriole legs headed by espagnolette chutes, signed F. Linke on the right-hand chute.
Provenance
Sold, Sotheby's, New York, June 15, 2005, lot 163.
Catalogue Note
This is an early model by Linke, initially recorded in the ledger books under number 168 in the 1890s. All appear to have been veneered in 'bois de violette' and 'satiné' conceived as a 'bijouterie' or display table with a beveled glass top. Linke also made several versions of the table with a marble top as in the present lot. The table was available with the corner mounts on the cabriole legs either with flowers 'à fleurs' or with female heads 'à caryatides'. The first notes in the ledger for a marble top are circa 1895, 4 centimetres thick with a 'chevalier' molding. Two other marble top versions were made in 1908 and 1909 with four further variations added from 1913 on an unused ledger page.
Although a typical slab from the Linke stable, unfortunately there is no trace of a brèche d'alep marble top being supplied for this model in the Linke registres. It would appear from the complex annotations in the ledger pages that the present lot was either the first marble top version of circa 1895 or one of the two started in 1905. Linke criticized the cabinetmaker of the latter, Komarek, who was paid the relatively high wage of 1 franc per hour, for having taken too long to make the two carcasses on the marble top versions at 312 francs, 50 for each carcass. Feunwich, who made the first examples, took 150 hours for a display table version. An average of the ten first carcasses shows that each took 168 for the cabinetwork. In keeping with tradition, the carcasses were made two at a time, each pair taking between 302 and 360 hours depending on the agility of the craftsman involved. A separate folder in the archives shows that the wood for each table cost 46 francs, needing, among others, 6 kilos of kingwood veneer.
A detail of the display table variations of this model number 168 is shown in François Linke 1855-1946 The Belle Epoque of French Furniture by Christopher Payne, Antique Collectors' Club, 2003, plate 396, p. 359.
Footnote courtesy of Christopher Payne.
Although a typical slab from the Linke stable, unfortunately there is no trace of a brèche d'alep marble top being supplied for this model in the Linke registres. It would appear from the complex annotations in the ledger pages that the present lot was either the first marble top version of circa 1895 or one of the two started in 1905. Linke criticized the cabinetmaker of the latter, Komarek, who was paid the relatively high wage of 1 franc per hour, for having taken too long to make the two carcasses on the marble top versions at 312 francs, 50 for each carcass. Feunwich, who made the first examples, took 150 hours for a display table version. An average of the ten first carcasses shows that each took 168 for the cabinetwork. In keeping with tradition, the carcasses were made two at a time, each pair taking between 302 and 360 hours depending on the agility of the craftsman involved. A separate folder in the archives shows that the wood for each table cost 46 francs, needing, among others, 6 kilos of kingwood veneer.
A detail of the display table variations of this model number 168 is shown in François Linke 1855-1946 The Belle Epoque of French Furniture by Christopher Payne, Antique Collectors' Club, 2003, plate 396, p. 359.
Footnote courtesy of Christopher Payne.