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拍品专文
This sumptuous commode is the second version (bis) by Linke of his celebrated 'Commode coquille: Coquetterie et Modestie', archive number 559. The original model was conceived in conjunction with archive number 553, 'Commode Louis XV Figaro (Scène du Barbier de Séville)', and together the two commodes formed an integral and important part of Linke's gold medal-winning stand at the Paris Exposition universelle in 1900, where they flanked his most monumental work, the Grande Bibliothèque. Model 559 was delivered to Elias Meyer in London in September 1909 and after the latter's death in 1925 it was resold to King Fuad I of Egypt, who had already acquired model 553. The two commodes are on display in the King of the Belgian's suite at the Abdeen Palace, Cairo.
The original concept for model number 559 incorporated corner chutes that more overtly reflected the title of the commode, one Coquetterie with breasts exposed, the other Modestie lightly covering her breasts with flowing material. The present lot, number 559 bis, has more restrained chutes of a design more in keeping with the early Louis XV period upon which style Linke has based this commode. The model for the chutes is also used on archive number 930, a centre-table. Linke had to remodel the corner mounts for the design of the present lot, the work being carried out by the foreman of the metalwork shop, Sartori: '1 haute de chute, 2 entourages, Sartori, 16 francs'. However, whilst at first glance being a retrospective work, the full force of Linke's collaboration with his gifted sculptor Léon Messagé can be seen in the flowing asymmetry, which has been cleverly modernised to reflect the surge of popularity of the Art Nouveau.
A re-examination of the Linke green registres shows that only two examples of version 559 bis were made, in 1903 and 1906. The present lot is clearly the actual commode photographed for posterity in the Linke Archives, with the fleur de pêcher marble top showing the same white flecks, in the same positions as those on the glass cliché (illustrated). There is a certain logic that Linke would have photographed the first, i.e. the 1903 example, although this must remain a supposition. However, the two carcasses were made in tandem, a normal practice in the more successful Paris workshops at the time. Linke ordered the wood for two carcasses at the same time and clearly the timber was in stock before the starting date of September 1903. Timber costs were 238 francs 40 (for both carcasses) and comprised, amongst others, 11 kilos of kingwood, 4 leaves of satiné, 4 of faux satiné and numerous planks of mahogany of different specifications. The bulk of the 1,092 hours of cabinetwork was by Knudsen, with one hundred hours assistance from Viélèle, paid at 85 and 80 centimes per hour respectively. The most expensive outlay was for the extensive chasing, the 1903 set of bronzes worked by Sartori for 700 francs, those for the 1906 version invoiced at 599 francs by Goujon. In each case the gilding was the traditional mercure Pierre method. Both commodes were furnished with fleur de pêcher marble tops sculpted by Huvé. Unless a clerical error, the Linke registre here gives a possible further clue that the present lot is probably the 1903 example. Each marble top is listed as 4 centimetres thick, as with the present lot. Linke's clerk lists the 1903 marble as being the wider at 141 cm., with the 1906 at 140.5 cm. However, the registre notes that both were 60 cm. deep, whilst the present top has been measured at 61.5 cm. The differences may well be down to simple human error, as a heavy marble top that is difficult to handle, especially one with a serpentine form and a moulded edge, is notoriously difficult to measure accurately. At the time of construction the retail price of 559 bis was 9,000 francs, with the average total construction cost being 3,000 francs each. Amongst the archive material for the present lot illustrated here are cabinet and bronze-makers' plans, two of several hundred in the Linke Archive, and, more unusually, the gouache design for the front upper left-hand corner marquetry panel.
There is no record as to who bought the two versions of 559 bis, although a pencil note in the registre shows that both were sent to Russia in 1913. The assumption is that both were in Linke's extensive stock in the intervening years and were purchased by the same Russian buyer to stand together. The present commode was certainly back in Paris in the 1940s, when it was reputedly purchased from a dealer by a cousin of the current owner. The companion commode, now presumed to be the 1906 example, was sold Sotheby's, New York, 10 May 2000, lot 223 ($220,250) and is illustrated in Payne (op. cit.), plate 151 and discussed on pp. 142-3.
Footnote researched and compiled by Christopher Payne. All Linke Archive material reproduced with kind permission of Christopher Payne.
The original concept for model number 559 incorporated corner chutes that more overtly reflected the title of the commode, one Coquetterie with breasts exposed, the other Modestie lightly covering her breasts with flowing material. The present lot, number 559 bis, has more restrained chutes of a design more in keeping with the early Louis XV period upon which style Linke has based this commode. The model for the chutes is also used on archive number 930, a centre-table. Linke had to remodel the corner mounts for the design of the present lot, the work being carried out by the foreman of the metalwork shop, Sartori: '1 haute de chute, 2 entourages, Sartori, 16 francs'. However, whilst at first glance being a retrospective work, the full force of Linke's collaboration with his gifted sculptor Léon Messagé can be seen in the flowing asymmetry, which has been cleverly modernised to reflect the surge of popularity of the Art Nouveau.
A re-examination of the Linke green registres shows that only two examples of version 559 bis were made, in 1903 and 1906. The present lot is clearly the actual commode photographed for posterity in the Linke Archives, with the fleur de pêcher marble top showing the same white flecks, in the same positions as those on the glass cliché (illustrated). There is a certain logic that Linke would have photographed the first, i.e. the 1903 example, although this must remain a supposition. However, the two carcasses were made in tandem, a normal practice in the more successful Paris workshops at the time. Linke ordered the wood for two carcasses at the same time and clearly the timber was in stock before the starting date of September 1903. Timber costs were 238 francs 40 (for both carcasses) and comprised, amongst others, 11 kilos of kingwood, 4 leaves of satiné, 4 of faux satiné and numerous planks of mahogany of different specifications. The bulk of the 1,092 hours of cabinetwork was by Knudsen, with one hundred hours assistance from Viélèle, paid at 85 and 80 centimes per hour respectively. The most expensive outlay was for the extensive chasing, the 1903 set of bronzes worked by Sartori for 700 francs, those for the 1906 version invoiced at 599 francs by Goujon. In each case the gilding was the traditional mercure Pierre method. Both commodes were furnished with fleur de pêcher marble tops sculpted by Huvé. Unless a clerical error, the Linke registre here gives a possible further clue that the present lot is probably the 1903 example. Each marble top is listed as 4 centimetres thick, as with the present lot. Linke's clerk lists the 1903 marble as being the wider at 141 cm., with the 1906 at 140.5 cm. However, the registre notes that both were 60 cm. deep, whilst the present top has been measured at 61.5 cm. The differences may well be down to simple human error, as a heavy marble top that is difficult to handle, especially one with a serpentine form and a moulded edge, is notoriously difficult to measure accurately. At the time of construction the retail price of 559 bis was 9,000 francs, with the average total construction cost being 3,000 francs each. Amongst the archive material for the present lot illustrated here are cabinet and bronze-makers' plans, two of several hundred in the Linke Archive, and, more unusually, the gouache design for the front upper left-hand corner marquetry panel.
There is no record as to who bought the two versions of 559 bis, although a pencil note in the registre shows that both were sent to Russia in 1913. The assumption is that both were in Linke's extensive stock in the intervening years and were purchased by the same Russian buyer to stand together. The present commode was certainly back in Paris in the 1940s, when it was reputedly purchased from a dealer by a cousin of the current owner. The companion commode, now presumed to be the 1906 example, was sold Sotheby's, New York, 10 May 2000, lot 223 ($220,250) and is illustrated in Payne (op. cit.), plate 151 and discussed on pp. 142-3.
Footnote researched and compiled by Christopher Payne. All Linke Archive material reproduced with kind permission of Christopher Payne.