BY FRANÇOIS LINKE, CIRCA 1895

Perhaps the finest ébéniste and bronzier of the late 19th century, François Linke produced, in collaboration with the sculptor Léon Messagé, furniture of the highest quality at his workshop at 170, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, and later c.1902 had a showroom at 26, Place Vendôme. As well as furniture made in an original gilt-bronze-mounted rocaille style, Linke also produced copies of furniture in the styles of the ancien régime of the late 17th and 18th centuries. Although he established his workshop in 1881, Linke first came to public notice at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900, at which he was awarded a Gold Medal. He became the most sought after cabinet-maker of the early 20th century producing meuble de style and exhibited at many international exhibitions, including St. Louis (1904), Liège (1905) and London (1908). Linke died in 1946 by which time the style with which he had made his name was no longer the height of fashion, but the workshops continued on a much reduced scale for some time.