françois linke an important and unique pair of bahut à deux corps, index number 2488 Paris, 1913-1914

ébène, tortoiseshell, engraved brass and silvered metal inlay, each upper part with one cupboard door opening to reveal four drawers veneered in tortoiseshell with engraved brass and silvered metal inlay, each side fitted with four drawers veneered in brass and inlaid with tortoiseshell and engraved silvered metal, the lower part fitted with one frieze drawer, one of the lockplates has been removed to reveal the Ct. Linke stamp and number 2488, each carcass stamped numerous times MADE IN FRANCE to the back.

C. Payne, Linke, pp. 195- 196, pl. 211-213, for the watercolor print of the present model and for an illustration of the present lot.

C. Payne, Linke,  p.197

C. Payne, 19th Century European Furniture, p. 52

D. Alcouffe et al., Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Vol. I, p. 60-63 for the 18th century model, circa 1700, by André-Charles Boulle.

Linke title: Meubles bahut Boulle à deux corps d'aprés le Musée du Louvre en marqueterie

Unusually, the green registre shows that Linke himself spent time working on the cabinetmaking of these cabinets, on December 31, 1913. The green registre shows that this pair of cabinets was a one-off order from a Mr. Nogueira in 1913, Commande 1825. The cost was 4,940.70 francs for each cabinet.  In an invoice dated March 24, 1914, addressed to J. P. Nogueira, Filho 8, Avenue du Parc Monceau, it can be seen that Linke charged his client 19,000 francs for the present lot. However, the client also bought another celebrated Boulle armoire also now in the Louvre, Linke archive number 917, for 25,000 francs (Louvre, inv. OA 5441). Linke reduced the total bill of 44,000 francs to 36,000. It is interesting to note that the fine quality chasing on the bronze mounts of this pair of cabinets alone cost 465 francs, almost ten percent of the cost of each cabinet. The brass and tortoiseshell marquetry cost 1,600 francs for each cabinet and, as usual, Clément Linke furnished the locks and hinges. The modeling costs of the bronzes are listed in some detail totalling approximately 2,613 francs. The registre lists in detail some of the bronze mounts numbering between 5134 and 5147, although clearly this is not the complete set. These costs do not appear to have been accounted for in the cost price of each cabinet. Either Linke recouped enough on his retail price to Mr. Nogueira, or he was hoping to make more examples to defray expenses. In keeping with other seemingly unique special orders, for example lot 168 in the present sale, there is no price in Linke’s pricelist for these cabinets. A watercolor in the Linke Archive (Payne, Linke, pl. 211) shows a simplified variation of this celebrated cabinet without the bronze plaque of Louis XVI as the Sun King, and without the elaborate bronze mount on the drawer of the lower plaque. It is assumed that this simplified version was never executed.