Lot Essay
Research suggests that this Cressent-inspired commode was manufactured by Linke for Maison Krieger. It is interesting to note that no glass photographic cliché for it exists in the Linke Archive. However, a photographic record of the present lot, illustrated here, does survive in the Archive and was likely acquired from Krieger once Linke had established a comprehensive record of clichés. Linke's early relationship with established Parisian cabinet-makers is well-documented in Christopher Payne's reference on the ébéniste, which cites Krieger and Jansen among Linke's first clients during the early 1880s (C. Payne, François Linke: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003, p. 37). Further supporting the attribution is the existence of nearly identical commodes supplied by Krieger, an example of which is illustrated in P. Kjellberg Le meuble français et europeén du moyen âge à nos jours, Paris, 1991, p. 490.