François Linke was born in Austria in 1855 and died in Paris in 1946. Linke is recorded as working independently by 1882 at 170 Fauborg Saint-Antoine, the heart of the Paris furniture trade. After his success was established at the Paris Exposition universelle of 1890, he acquired showrooms in the prestigious place Vendôme.

While Linke's early work in the 1880's appears to consist entirely of copies of important, and normally Royal, furniture of the 18th Century, he became frustrated copying earlier examples. His desire to create something new translated into new designs which, while reminiscent of the Louis XV style, quickly moved beyond.

The offered lot reflects Linke's transitional phase, retaining aspects of the Louis XV style, just before his development of the new style of the 'belle epoque'.