François Linke

Pair of neo-Renaissance cabinets attributed to F. Linke France Circa 1880 Stained wood, Sycamore, Ebony Height : 150 cm ; Width : 89 cm ; Depth : 42 cm Rare pair of Renaissance-style cabinets in stained wood imitating ebony. The upper part of the cabinet, adorned with inlaid panels alternating with fine fluted columns, opens through a central door onto a delightful interior with shelves, made of sycamore veneer with ebony frames. The inlaid decoration on the panels, in light wood, features delicate carved acanthus, grotesques and flowering vases, typical motifs of the Renaissance decorative repertoire. At the bottom, three drawers top a console table featuring arches and fluted columns for the front legs. The back of the cabinet is decorated with a marquetry of similar motifs. Related work : These neo-Renaissance cabinets are similar to the one from François Linke's private collection. (Reproduced and discussed in François Linke (1855-1946), The Belle Epoque of French Furnitures, Ch. Payne, pp.40-41). While François Linke's style is mostly recognizable by its Art Nouveau-tinged rococo style, he sometimes drew on other reminiscences, such as the French Renaissance, where the cabinet became an essential part of interior furnishings. This cabinet, or collector's cabinet, with its sumptuously ornate doors and matching legs, has a decorative aesthetic derived from architecture. Biography: François Linke, born in Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) in 1855, started out as a cabinetmaker around 1882 and practiced in Paris until his death in 1946, in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Around 1900, at the height of his career, he even opened a branch in Place Vendôme. He specialized in the manufacture of Louis XV and Louis XVI furniture, ambitious both in terms of size and sumptuous bronze ornamentation, which earned him numerous commissions from the late 19th century onwards. Wishing to go beyond eighteenth-century style copies, Linke collaborated with the already famous sculptor Léon Messagé and integrated the sinuous lines heralding Art Nouveau, thus developing a highly personal style. One of his great successes came at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, where the jury awarded him the gold medal for his desk, designed by Messagé, in violet wood and mounted with Louis XV-style bronzes. The "Revue artistique et industrielle" glorified Linke, writing that his stand at the Exposition was the greatest demonstration ever made in the history of art furniture.