IMPORTANT FRANCOIS LINKE ORMOLU MOUNTED
MARQUETRY AND PARQUETRY ROLL TOP WRITING DESK, CIRCA 1900


the superstructure with a 3/4 brass gallery rail top, above a cylinder front opening to a fitted sliding writing interior, the base with a series of drawers, raised on square tapered legs, terminating on leaf cup castors

Dimensions: 108 cm. high; 113 cm. wide; 66 cm. deep

This French cylinder desk is after a famous model by Jean-Henri Reisener made for Marie-Antoinette’s new apartments at the Chateau des Tulieries in 1784. It is now housed at the Musée du Louvre, Paris.

François Linke, 1855 – 1946, was born in Bohemia. He was the leading cabinetmaker of ‘Le Belle Epoque’, a period in Western European civilisation that was characterised by optimism, peace, prosperity, and scientific and cultural innovations. In Paris, the arts flourished.

Linke drew his inspiration from the great French ébénistes (cabinetmakers) of the eighteenth-century. He collaborated with sculptor Léon Messagé, 1842 – 1901, who provided him models for furniture and ornamental bronze of the very highest quality. Messagé fused the rococo style with l’Art Noveau to create what has become known as ‘le style Linke’.

Linke’s company achieved world renown. His exquisitely finished, lavishly made furniture was produced for clients in Europe and the Americas while during the Great Depression, it received a commission for more than 1,000 pieces for the King of Egypt.