THE ART-CASE BY FRANÇOIS LINKE, THE MOVEMENT BY ERARD, SERIAL NUMBER 84877, PARIS, CIRCA 1902

Details

A FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED BOIS SATINE AND BURR MAPLE PARQUETRY PIANO A QUEUE
THE ART-CASE BY FRANÇOIS LINKE, THE MOVEMENT BY ERARD, SERIAL NUMBER 84877, PARIS, CIRCA 1902
Overall with laurel chain and stiff leaf moldings enclosing lozenge parquetry panels on six legs on castors joined by a loop stretcher and front by lyre shaped pedals, the keyboard cover signed 'Erard / Paris', the soundboard signed 'Par Brevet d'Invention Seb & Pre Erard 13&21 rue du Mail Paris', the keyboard cover molding signed 'F. Linke' to the front right edge
40 ¾ in. (103.5 cm.) high, 56 in. (142.3 cm.) wide, 85 in. (216 cm.) deep

Provenance

Prince Alexander Vladimirovich Bariatinsky.
Paul Reynaud, by repute.
With George Georges & Sons.
Mrs. O.A. Morgan, Lufkin, Texas, acquired in 1948.
Mr. and Mrs. I.B. Weathers Jr., Temple, Texas, 1974.
James and Wendi Dyer, Dallas, Texas, 2014.

Special notice

Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

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Lot Essay

According to the Erard archives, the present lot was commissioned by Mr. Mati & Co. on 21 August 1902 for Prince Alexander Vladimirovich Bariatinsky, possibly on the occasion of his son’s, Prince Andrei Bariatinsky's birth on 2 August 1902. The piano was delivered on 30 December 1902 to the Bariatinsky's residence at 82 rue de la Faisance, Paris. The cost of production was 6,850 French Francs.
Prince Bariatinsky married Romanav Princess Ekaterina Yourievsky, the daughter of Tsar Alexander II. When her father was assinated in 1881, her family fled to France. She married Bariatinsky in October 1901.
This elegant piano à queue is one of a small group of ‘Art-Case’ pianos made by François Linke. The present lot was produced at the height of Linke's international fame and just years after his gold medal-winning stand at the Exposition Universelle in 1900. Pianos of such grandeur were not taken on as stock by Linke, nor were they exhibited, though the designs for instrument commissions and their materials drew heavily from Linke's celebrated furnishings.

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