A LOUIS XV STYLE ORMOLU-MOUNTED TULIPWOOD, MARQUETRY AND PARQUETRY WRITING-TABLE
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A LOUIS XV STYLE ORMOLU-MOUNTED TULIPWOOD, MARQUETRY AND PARQUETRY WRITING-TABLE

BY FRANÇOIS LINKE, PARIS, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Details
A LOUIS XV STYLE ORMOLU-MOUNTED TULIPWOOD, MARQUETRY AND PARQUETRY WRITING-TABLE
BY FRANÇOIS LINKE, PARIS, LATE 19TH CENTURY
The shaped top with moulded ormolu surround, decorated with cube parquetry and floral sprays, above a shaped frieze set with foliate and shell-cast encadrement, fitted with a central drawer, on cabriole legs each headed by a water-spilling scallop-shell and terminating in a scrolling sabot
29¾ in. (75.5 cm.) high; 30¾ in. (78 cm.) wide; 18½ in. (47 cm.) deep
Provenance
Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 18 March 1993, lot 106.
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

This table appears to be a variation of index number 162 for which an entry in Linke's Daybook records an invoice to Poly for the gilding on the 30 December 1900.
Although similar to many small tables which were such an important mainstay of Linke's early production, the present lot is adorned with far superior mounts that show the influence of Léon Messagé in their combination of a stylised Louis XV rococo with the moderne 'Art Nouveau'. The central shell encadrement to the frieze was also used for a fine bureau de dame (index number 552) that was originally modeled for the 1900 Exposition Universelle. An example of the present lot can be seen in a photograph of Linke's Salon des Industries du Mobilier stand, taken in September 1902 (see C. Payne. François Linke, 1855-1946 - The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003, p. 170, pl. 184).

Another, plainer variation of this model, of similar form but with less exuberant mounts was sold, Sotheby's, New York, A Private Collection: Volume I, 26 October 2006, lot 75 ($30,000).

We are grateful to Christopher Payne for researching and preparing this catalogue note.

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