BY FRANÇOIS LINKE, RETAILED BY MERCIER FRERES, THE MOVEMENT BY ERARD, SERIAL NUMBER 97453, PARIS, CIRCA 1910

This profusely-decorated piano à queue is in the distinctive fin de siècle style of high-rococo which became synonymous with Linke’s oeuvre from 1900 through the end of his career.  Though the present model is not overly imbued with the Art Nouveau flourishes often associated with ébéniste’s collaboration with the sculptor Léon Messagé, the expressive and lively bronze encradrements are undoubtedly inspired by Juste-Aurele Meissonnier's asymmetrical ornament of the early 18th century which produced sinuous, flowing designs for furniture over a century later.  A piano of similar Louis XV style sold at Sotheby’s, New York, 24 October 2012, lot 154 ($422,500).
 
The Erard archives records this piano as Piano à Queue N°1, style Louis the XV […] de marqueterie et de bronzes dorés, Louis XV and indicates the eventual recipient as Mercier Frères of Paris.  Established in 1828 by Claude Mercier with premises at 15, rue Beautrellis, the firm relocated shortly thereafter to 100, rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine.  Mercier was a frequent exhibitor at the Exposition de produits de l'industrie francaise in 1844 and 1849, and participated in most of the major International Exhibitions of the latter half of the century.  The connection beween Linke and Mercier Frères is indicative of the exceptional number of trade clients Linke built up throughout his career, many of them decorating firms and haut luxe retailers who represented a fashionable Parisian clientele at the turn of the century.  Linke counted Duveen Brothers, Jansen and Mercier Frères among his extensive register of clients, many of whom appear in Linke’s day books from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries (C. Payne, François Linke: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003, pp. 229-234).