A Louis XVI Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Vitrine, Attributed to François Linke, Paris.
Of bombé outshape with glazed door and sides enclosing two adjustable shelves and a mirrored back. The curved low part with a cupboard door fronted with rocaille encadrements and trailing flowers. The front angles with sculpture ruffle-collared female busts. On cabriole legs.
France, Circa 1900.
The attribution to François Linke is made with reference to another signed example of this vitrine. Exhibiting superb construction and well-chiselled sculptural gilt-bronze mounts, this vitrine is in the Louis XV style as interpreted by Léon Messagé (1842-1901) who designed furniture, which blended the pittoresque rococo style with the Art Nouveau, for Linke’s medal winning stand at the 1900 Paris Exposition universelle.
The sculptural bust mounts of ruffle-collared ladies are a distinguishing feature which reference the playful rococo style of the celebrated Régence ébéniste and sculpteur Charles Cressent (1685-1768). The same busts feature to models of commode and bureaux plats, both signed by Linke and not signed, but supplied to his fellow makers, Zwiener and Krieger. Evidence of such collaborations explain the absence of Linke’s signature to the present vitrine and indicate it is most likely an early work by Linke made before the 1900 exhibition which cemented his fame. Linke pieces made before 1900 are not always signed, whereas after, they invariably are.
The excellent proportions and fine quality of this vitrine are self-evident and ensure it is an attractive and desirable model.
Payne, Christopher. François Linke 1855-1946: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture. Antique Collectors’ Club, (Woodbridge, UK), 2003.
By appointment only.
