A French gilt-bronze mounted marquetry, kingwood, mahogany and rosewood centre table by François Linke, circa 1890

Small gueridons of this type were an ever popular mainstay of Linke's production. Christopher Payne notes that Index Number 146, the present model, was first made as a three-legged example by Saverte on 9th December 1889. A further five three-legged examples and at least two of a four-legged version appear to have been made in 1892. Seemingly, nine different versions of the table existed, with marquetry or marble tops and with either three or four legs, and the model continued to be available into the 1930s. The present lot is, however, closer to a gueridon with four legs, drawn as number 63 'old 146' in Linke's Blue Daybooks, of which an example with marquetry top sold Sotheby's, New York, 24 October 2007, lot 146 ($23,750).

François Linke (1855-1946)

Linke, born on 17th June 1855 in the small village of Pankraz, was perhaps the most important Parisian ébéniste operating in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century. First trained in Czech Republic, he moved to Paris in 1875 and set up an independent workshop at 170, Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine in 1881, and later on at 26, place Vendôme.

Linke's business thrived and his workshops produced luxurious furniture of the very highest quality and utilised the very best of materials. His work was in demand by a wealthy client base from around the world - this fame coming, in part, through his very successful representation at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris for which he received the gold medal from the jury. He exhibited at the World’s Fair in St. Louis in 1904 and in other parts of the world including South America. He flourished and remained active until the middle years of the 1930s and died in 1946. In 1906, in recognition of his great success and talent in design, he was awarded the highest distinction of France, the Croix de la Legion d'Honneur.