FRANÇOIS LINKE (1855 - 1946)A PAIR OF FRENCH GILT-BRONZE MOUNTED MAHOGANY AND VERNIS MARTIN VITRINES, CIRCA 1890 |

with a Brèche d'Alep marble top, signed 'F. Linke' to the right chute, index n°29, the varnish signed 'J. Lesage d'après Boucher'

A Private Collection, vol. 1, Sotheby's New York, 26 October 2006, lot 171 (sold 51 000$)

Linke title: Vitrine Louis XV porte vernis Martin. This model of vitrine is shown on page 29 of Daybook number two. Linke has drawn two variations in the Daybook, the main differences being one is drawn with a flat top with tall cabriole legs, the other with a top à gorge. Both were to have a vernis Martin panel which cost 50 francs for each example made. The earliest cabinets cost between 440 and 490 francs to make, selling for 670 and 750 francs respectively. It took the metal worker Zurcher 51 hours to mount the bronzes alone, whereas the cabinetwork took just under 41 hours. There is no information in the Blue Daybook for this Archive number, which is one of the earliest items of furniture in the present sale. There is no explanation as to why many of the first 150 Archive numbers do not appear in the Blue Daybook, especially as many are written into the later green registre. The Green Daybook shows that this model was made five more times, the last seemingly finished in 1912.