François Linke 1855-1946: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture

François Linke (1855-1946) was born in Pankraz, Bohemia, and was trained under the strict disciplines of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 1860s, emerging as one of the most remarkable cabinetmakers of his day at a time when the worldwide influence of French fashion was its height.

The ancien régime was the main source of inspiration for artistic design in France and towards the end of the 19th century the furniture styles of Louis XV and Louis XVI were revived by Linke to huge popular appeal, but he wanted to create a fresh new style and his association with the sculptor Léon Messagé resulted in some highly original designs, based on the rococo style and the latest big thing to hit Paris, l’art nouveau.

The style Linke was received with rapture at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900 and Linke was rewarded not only with a Gold Medal but also important private commissions. Like the revolutionary Secessionists in Vienna, capital of the vast empire in which he was born, Linke had created a new form while respecting traditional art forms.

This book, one of the most important and ambitious from the Antiques Collectors’ Club, is written by Christopher Payne, author of the seminal work 19th Century European Furniture, published by the ACC in 1981, and a former director of Sotheby’s furniture. The book tells the story of Linke, a gardener’s son and the second son of ll children, and who walked penniless to Paris, via Vienna, in 1876, there to marry and start a cabinetmaking business.

Christopher Payne’s worldly book, with 700 photographs, many unpublished and from the Linke family archive and from private collections, has ten chapters showing the development of this exacting and prolific man’s life work, including the evolution of the Linke style, the importance of Léon Messagé’s extravagant and highly individual ormolu mounts, Linke’s clients, including the King of Egypt, to whom he supplied over 1000 pieces in the 1920s and 1930s, his exhibitions and his family life.

Importantly, the appendices offer a rare insight into the production and the materials used on the bronze-mounted furniture and marquetry.

So highly regarded today is Linke’s furniture that prices match the 18th century originals, as demonstrated at Christie’s King Street 19th Century Furniture Sale in April this year, when a rare, uncleaned or restored 14-piece dining suite by Linke, bought in 1977 in three lots for around £25,000, sold to a private Arab buyer for £485,000, reckoned by the auctioneers to be a new auction high for Linke’s work.