françois linke Coiffeuse Paris, early 20th century

flame figured mahogany and brèche violette marble top, fourteen drawers, the cupboard opening to one shelf, one lock has been removed to reveal the Ct. Linke stamp, one chute has been removed to reaveal the mark F* from the bronze master model.

François Linke 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 18th 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.

On the present lot, it is interesting to notice the use of the elaborate foliate swag motif that Linke used on many of his other creations, such as index numbers 448 and 1416. See: Sotheby's New York,October 26, 2006,A private collection, Vol I, lots 35, 74, 161 and 179.