A Large and Rare Louis XVI Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Vitrine Cabinet

Object Description

A Large and Rare Louis XVI Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Vitrine Cabinet, By François Linke. Paris.

The pediment frieze with flower-filled entrelac gilt-bronze mounts. The central glazed door with laurel branches to the top corners set on the glass. The sides with curved ‘S’-shaped glass. The interior with mirrored back and five adjustable glass shelves. Raised on tapering legs and leaf-cast sabots.

Signed ‘F. Linke’ to the gilt-bronze front right corner mount.
The reverse of the lockplate stamped ‘CT. LINKE / SERRURERIE / PARIS’.

France. Circa 1900.

Object History

The design is a contemporary rendering of the Louis XVI style evoked by François Linke circa 1900. The exemplary quality is evident in details such as the gilt-bronze laurel mounts on the glass of the front door. The curved ‘S’-shaped side panels show a design flare and technical mastery achievable only by the finest cabinetmaker. A very similar example of this vitrine can be seen in an interior scheme by Linke reproduced in C. Payne, François Linke 1855-1946, The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003, plates 294-5, pp. 280-1.

François Linke (1855 – 1946) was the most important Parisian cabinet maker of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and possibly the most sought after cabinet maker of his period.

Object Literature

C. Payne, François Linke 1855-1946, The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003, plates 294-5, pp. 280-1.

Object Details