François Linke (1855-1946). Mahogany And Mahogany Veneer Daybed

François Linke (1855-1946). Mahogany and mahogany veneer daybed, curved armrests with scrolls, straight back with curved top. It rests on four spinning top legs with leafy rings. Rich ornamentation in chased and gilded bronze at the corner falls with leafy scrolls, interlacing friezes in the belt and leafy clasps at the top of the back. Width: 166 cm - Depth: 76 cm. Provenance: Private collection of Mr. Juan Higinio Aztoreca (1840-1903), by descent. Formerly kept in his mansion in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Industrialist and entrepreneur of Spanish origin, Juan Higinio Aztoreca made his fortune in the exploitation of salt and sodium nitrate. He settled in Paris at the very beginning of the 20th century, in a private mansion in Neuilly-sur-Seine, which he had entirely decorated and furnished, notably with furniture from the workshop of François Linke, a cabinetmaker in vogue since the Universal Exhibition of 1900. When he died, the private mansion was sold but the furniture remained in the family. Perhaps the best cabinetmaker and bronze-worker of the late 19th century, François Linke produced, in collaboration with the sculptor Léon Messagé, furniture of the highest quality in his workshop at 170, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, and later around 1902, he had a showroom at 26, Place Vendôme. In addition to furniture made in an original rocaille style mounted on gilded bronze, Linke also made copies of furniture in the styles of the Ancien Régime of the late 17th and 18th centuries. Although he established his workshop in 1881, Linke first came to prominence at the 1900 Paris World's Fair, where he was awarded a gold medal. He became the most sought-after cabinetmaker of the early 20th century, producing period furniture and exhibiting at many international exhibitions, including Saint-Louis (1904), Liège (1905) and London (1908). Linke died in 1946, by which time the style with which he had made his name was no longer fashionable, but the workshops continued on a much reduced scale for a time.