SIGNED "Linke". France - Circa 1890. Desk: H.: 76 cm (30 in.); L.: 141 cm (55 1/2 in.); D.: 81 cm (31 3/4 in.). Bookcase: H.: 160 cm (63 in.); L.: 151 cm (60 in.); D.: 49 cm (19 1/3 in.). A Regency style bookcase, kingwood veneered, opening with two glazed doors framed by a tulipwood ribbon. Bent sides with tulipwood cube motif parquetry. A Régence style bureau plat, in kingwood and satinwood veneer, opening with three frieze drawers. Chiseled ormolu mounts representing acanthus leaves and satyr masks.______Biography: François Linke, born in 1855 in Bohemia (Czechoslovakia), worked as a cabinet-maker in Paris from about 1882 until his death in 1946. In 1900, at the apex of his career, he opened a new shop at the famous Parisian place Vendôme. He specialized in Louis XV and Louis XVI style furniture: all pieces were beautifully mounted with gilt-bronze ornaments, and he received numerous commissions. Later Linke decided to collaborate with the well-known sculptor Léon Messagé and integrated new lines and shapes announcing the “Art Nouveau” style. His great success is definitely the 1900 Universal Exhibition where he was awarded the gold medal for his extraordinary kingwood desk, designed by Messagé. At this occasion, the “Revue artistique et industrielle” commented that “Linke’s stand is the biggest show in the history of art furniture”.

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