François Linke was one of the leading Parisian makers of furniture in the Louis XV style in the late 19th and early 20th Century. In the early part of his career he produced superb quality copies of 18th Century furniture but what sets him apart from his contemporaries is the change that appeared in his work around 1900. Although his work continued to be very much in the Louis XV style he added a distinctly modern touch that was inspired by Art Nouveau decoration. This piece has no 18th Century parallel and is clearly an invention of Linke's (see: D. Ledoux-Lebard, Le Mobilier Français su XIXe Siècle, Paris, 1984, pp. 439-444)