BY FRANCOIS LINKE, THE MOUNTS DESIGNED BY LEON MESSAGE, INDEX NUMBER 132, PARIS, LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY

This popular model, a collaboration between Linke and the celebrated sculptor Léon Messagé, is immediately recognizable by Messagé's 'crab-like acanthus' mounts, which he originally designed for the firm of Roux et Brunet. Index number 132 first appears in Linke's daybooks circa 1890, though production of the model continued through the beginning of the 20th century. The present desk, a version ten centimeters shorter than the example shown in the illustrated cliché, was also available with delicate sycamore stringings around the drawers and side panels. Another example of this model was sold Sotheby's, New York, 26 October 2010, lot 134 ($86,500). Index number 132 is further illustrated in C. Payne, François Linke: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003, p. 84.