BY FRANÇOIS LINKE, INDEX NUMBER 386, PARIS, EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Details

A LOUIS XV STYLE ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY AND PARQUETRY CENTRE-TABLE
BY FRANÇOIS LINKE, INDEX NUMBER 386, PARIS, EARLY 20TH CENTURY
The serpentine top with ribbon-bound reeded edge above a panelled frieze with grillage and 'crab' mounts to the front and back, the front fitted with a drawer, on cabriole legs headed by espagnolettes and terminating in scrolling sabots, signed F. Linke to the right side of the drawer moulding, variously stamped F. L. to the reverse of the mounts
30 in. (76.2 cm.) high; 35½ in. (90 cm.) wide; 23½ in. (60 cm.) deep

Literature

C. Payne, François Linke, 1855-1946 - The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003, p. 362, pl. 399.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Payne notes that Linke produced a number of different variations of the present table, index number 386. These included a vitrine version with bevelled glass top, a drawer-less centre-table with marble top, and versions with either a marquetry or parquetry top, with or without a drawer. All versions appear to have incorporated the gilt-metal grillage frieze, and as illustrated by the relevant page from Linke's metalwork registre, the standard mounts were acanthus chutes to the angles and a shell and acanthus clasp to the centre of the frieze. The present example, fitted with a drawer and with a parquetry top, is unusual in its application of espagnolette clasps to the angles and Linke's signature coquille de la commode, or 'crab' mount to the frieze.

A vitrine example of this model table, with simplified acanthus chutes and frieze clasp, was sold Sotheby's New York, 26 October 2006, lot 85 ($16,800).

For a note on François Linke, please see lot 100.

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