BY FRANÇOIS LINKE, THE MOUNTS DESIGNED BY LÉON MESSAGÉ, INDEX NUMBER 1455, PARIS, EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Furnishings in the goût Weisweiler were widely produced by Linke in a variety of imaginative designs, including the present tea-table (index no. 1455) which is an intriguing marriage of both Louis XV and Louis XVI styles. Here Linke borrows elements from his Table à thé Louis XV (index no. 610) and his Table Louis XVI Marie-Antoinette (index no. 114) with the resulting design simultaneously paying homage to Weisweiler's genius and embracing Messagé's exaggerated interpretation of Rococo forms. Another example of index no. 1455 boasting a thyrsus-decorated frieze sold at Christie's, New York, 21 October 2008, lot 343 ($68,500).