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拍品專文
This imposing and magnificent four-sided vitrine, titled by François Linke as ‘Grande vitrine de milieu’ and often called a serre-bijoux, epitomizes the style Linke which was unveiled at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle and which demonstrates the pinnacle of the neo-Rococo collaboration achieved between the celebrated ébéniste and his sculptor, Léon Messagé. Messagé's exuberant and playful designs, transformed in bronze doré and considered sculpture unto themselves, were characteristic of the finest late 19th century furniture, and Messagé's prowess at their design and application was unrivaled. The sculptor triumphantly embraced the asymmetry characterized by Rococo designers such as Meissonnier by creating lively and emotive figures and appliqués such as the surmounting enfant Guerrier and asymmetrical winged cartouches prominently displayed on the present model.
INDEX NO. 608: THE PROTOTYPE
This vitrine figures among three which Linke recorded between 1899 and 1910. In preparation for the Paris Exposition Universelle, the pressure on his workshops and the financial strain of producing such innovative, sumptuous and large-scale pieces as the Grande Bibliothèque, the show-stopper of the 1900 stand, resulted in only sixteen pieces being completed in time. A passing entry in Linke’s Blue Daybook from October 1898 first mentions the vitrine executed by atelier cabinetmaker Kyor as ‘seul en acajou’. Despite 307 hours of recorded work on the vitrine, it was not completed as scheduled and would later enter the collection of George Crocker of New York, then into the collection of Linke’s famous patron Captain Joseph de Lamar (1843-1918) and finally the Collection of Peter W. Rouss. The solid mahogany prototype, finished with scrolling rocaille mounts in lieu of the final female masks, ultimately sold A Private Collection: Volume I, Important French Furniture and Decorations, Sotheby’s, New York, 26 October 2006, lot 55 ($699,200).
Most interestingly, the prototype and the subsequent vitrines produced by Linke in collaboration with Messagé are undoubtedly related to a similar, earlier design by Emmanuel Zwiener, circa 1890. In 1890 Messagé published his Cahier des Dessins et Croquis Style Louis XV, in which a total of thirty-six designs, ranging from furniture to table objects to silverware, were made available to the public. It is while providing sculptural designs for Zwiener's more exuberant furniture that Messagé appears to have come into contact for the first time with François Linke. Honored with the Medaille d'Or for the opulent vernis Martin serre-bijoux (sold Christie’s, London, 17 March 2011, lot 409, £623,650), Message’s hallmark designs are apparent on a four-sided vitrine surmounted by an putto warrior, sold The Charles T. Yerkes Collection, American Art Association, 5-13 April 1910, lot 860.
LINKE’S AMERICAN PATRONS AND THE ST. LOUIS WORLD’S FAIR
The first completed vitrine, veneered in sumptuous bois de violette timbers, finally at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. A second example, also in bois de violette, was made between 1909 and 1910 and was also veneered. In Christopher Payne’s monograph on the ébéniste illustrating view’s of Linke’s stand in 1904, it is difficult to discern if the present vitrine is the same shown in 1904, in Linke's photo negative cliché (C. Payne, p. 494) or an example which appears in Linke’s Faubourg St. Antoine post 1917 (C. Payne, p. 463). The other example of the model, formerly from the collection of flamboyant Houston Mayor Roy Mark Hofheinz (d. 1982) and with tenuous links to the St. Louis exhibition, was sold Christie’s, New York, 31 October 2000, lot 444 and again at Bonham’s, Los Angeles, 27 Feb 2006, lot 5201.
However, the most likely owner of the 1904 vitrine, possibly the present lot, was De Lamar, who was not only already a keen collector of fine furniture and sculpture, but was purchasing works directly from Linke’s workshop. De Lamar was also a voracious auction transactor, often acquiring Linke’s works from major American collections, such as the collections of George Crocker, Isaac D. Fletcher and Charles T. Yerkes. De Lamar’s appetite for the style Linke developed at the 1900 Paris exhibition, after which he ordered 23,050 francs worth of existing stock destined for his Paris home on avenue du Bois de Boulogne. However, it was De Lamar's visit to Linke's stand at the St. Louis World Fair which crystalized his status as Linke’s most prolific American patron. The most important of his significant purchases that year was the second example of Linke's chef d'oeuvre, the Grande Bibliothèque, the first of which he would have seen at the 1900 exhibition, and a photograph of which was displayed on the St Louis stand. Against the wall directly below the photograph was the famous Bahut Marine, whose nautical theme and marquetry panels depicting life on the ocean floor would have appealed immediately to the former seafarer. Other major purchases from St. Louis included a sumptuous and unique dining suite, comprising a table, twelve chairs and buffet, index numbers 726, 727 and 728, and the innovative four-sided bois de violette vitrine, possibly the present lot, index number 608.
De Lamar’s extensive collection of costly furnishings was subsequently sold at American Art Association, New York, 20-22 November 1919. A four-sided Grand vitrine de milieu, lot 422 (see inset illustration), was purchased by Peter W. Rouss, son and heir of Charles B. Rouss, founder of the famous New York department store at 555 Broadway. Rouss, also the purchased of the magnificent Bahut Marine, was fanatic yachtsman and keen horse-breeder, Rouss also had a passion for art, filling his mansion at 320 Garfield Place, Brooklyn with fine furniture, sculpture and paintings. Rouss’s collection was sold at public auction from 22-24 October 1936. A sequence of three ‘similarly designed’ vitrines appear; lots 295 (mahogany prototype, formerly Crocker collection), lot 296 (formerly De Lamar collection) and lot 297, which is described as slightly smaller (6ft. 9 in.) and may correlate with an example by Zwiener who was also favored by Rouss.
INDEX NO. 608: THE PROTOTYPE
This vitrine figures among three which Linke recorded between 1899 and 1910. In preparation for the Paris Exposition Universelle, the pressure on his workshops and the financial strain of producing such innovative, sumptuous and large-scale pieces as the Grande Bibliothèque, the show-stopper of the 1900 stand, resulted in only sixteen pieces being completed in time. A passing entry in Linke’s Blue Daybook from October 1898 first mentions the vitrine executed by atelier cabinetmaker Kyor as ‘seul en acajou’. Despite 307 hours of recorded work on the vitrine, it was not completed as scheduled and would later enter the collection of George Crocker of New York, then into the collection of Linke’s famous patron Captain Joseph de Lamar (1843-1918) and finally the Collection of Peter W. Rouss. The solid mahogany prototype, finished with scrolling rocaille mounts in lieu of the final female masks, ultimately sold A Private Collection: Volume I, Important French Furniture and Decorations, Sotheby’s, New York, 26 October 2006, lot 55 ($699,200).
Most interestingly, the prototype and the subsequent vitrines produced by Linke in collaboration with Messagé are undoubtedly related to a similar, earlier design by Emmanuel Zwiener, circa 1890. In 1890 Messagé published his Cahier des Dessins et Croquis Style Louis XV, in which a total of thirty-six designs, ranging from furniture to table objects to silverware, were made available to the public. It is while providing sculptural designs for Zwiener's more exuberant furniture that Messagé appears to have come into contact for the first time with François Linke. Honored with the Medaille d'Or for the opulent vernis Martin serre-bijoux (sold Christie’s, London, 17 March 2011, lot 409, £623,650), Message’s hallmark designs are apparent on a four-sided vitrine surmounted by an putto warrior, sold The Charles T. Yerkes Collection, American Art Association, 5-13 April 1910, lot 860.
LINKE’S AMERICAN PATRONS AND THE ST. LOUIS WORLD’S FAIR
The first completed vitrine, veneered in sumptuous bois de violette timbers, finally at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. A second example, also in bois de violette, was made between 1909 and 1910 and was also veneered. In Christopher Payne’s monograph on the ébéniste illustrating view’s of Linke’s stand in 1904, it is difficult to discern if the present vitrine is the same shown in 1904, in Linke's photo negative cliché (C. Payne, p. 494) or an example which appears in Linke’s Faubourg St. Antoine post 1917 (C. Payne, p. 463). The other example of the model, formerly from the collection of flamboyant Houston Mayor Roy Mark Hofheinz (d. 1982) and with tenuous links to the St. Louis exhibition, was sold Christie’s, New York, 31 October 2000, lot 444 and again at Bonham’s, Los Angeles, 27 Feb 2006, lot 5201.
However, the most likely owner of the 1904 vitrine, possibly the present lot, was De Lamar, who was not only already a keen collector of fine furniture and sculpture, but was purchasing works directly from Linke’s workshop. De Lamar was also a voracious auction transactor, often acquiring Linke’s works from major American collections, such as the collections of George Crocker, Isaac D. Fletcher and Charles T. Yerkes. De Lamar’s appetite for the style Linke developed at the 1900 Paris exhibition, after which he ordered 23,050 francs worth of existing stock destined for his Paris home on avenue du Bois de Boulogne. However, it was De Lamar's visit to Linke's stand at the St. Louis World Fair which crystalized his status as Linke’s most prolific American patron. The most important of his significant purchases that year was the second example of Linke's chef d'oeuvre, the Grande Bibliothèque, the first of which he would have seen at the 1900 exhibition, and a photograph of which was displayed on the St Louis stand. Against the wall directly below the photograph was the famous Bahut Marine, whose nautical theme and marquetry panels depicting life on the ocean floor would have appealed immediately to the former seafarer. Other major purchases from St. Louis included a sumptuous and unique dining suite, comprising a table, twelve chairs and buffet, index numbers 726, 727 and 728, and the innovative four-sided bois de violette vitrine, possibly the present lot, index number 608.
De Lamar’s extensive collection of costly furnishings was subsequently sold at American Art Association, New York, 20-22 November 1919. A four-sided Grand vitrine de milieu, lot 422 (see inset illustration), was purchased by Peter W. Rouss, son and heir of Charles B. Rouss, founder of the famous New York department store at 555 Broadway. Rouss, also the purchased of the magnificent Bahut Marine, was fanatic yachtsman and keen horse-breeder, Rouss also had a passion for art, filling his mansion at 320 Garfield Place, Brooklyn with fine furniture, sculpture and paintings. Rouss’s collection was sold at public auction from 22-24 October 1936. A sequence of three ‘similarly designed’ vitrines appear; lots 295 (mahogany prototype, formerly Crocker collection), lot 296 (formerly De Lamar collection) and lot 297, which is described as slightly smaller (6ft. 9 in.) and may correlate with an example by Zwiener who was also favored by Rouss.