A Rare Gilt and Patinated Bronze ‘Chariot’ Mantel Clock By François Linke

A Rare Gilt and Patinated Bronze ‘Chariot’ Mantel Clock by François Linke.

This fine clock is in the form of a putto on a chariot pulled by a winged female bust with turban, on a 'C'-scrolled acanthus and rocaille decorated base, signed 'F. Linke', the wheel-shaped dial with blue enamel Roman chapters, the twin-barrel movement with platform lever escapement with strike to bell, signed 'CCH AND AD/ MOUGIN'; with winding key and regulating key.

This whimsical mantle clock, loosely in the form of a chariot or gondola, is in the high rococo style of the sculptor Léon Messagé as promoted in his Cahier des Dessins et Croquis Style Louis XV, 1890. Messagé’s designs of asymmetry rocaille created 'le style Linke' for which Linke’s stand at the Paris 1900 Exposition universelle was so applauded.

François Linke

François Linke (1855 - 1946) was the most important Parisian cabinet maker of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and possibly the most sought after cabinet maker of his period.

He was born in 1855 in the small village of Pankraz, in what is now the Czech Republic.  Records show that Linke served an apprenticeship with the master cabinetmaker Neumann, then in 1875 at the age of 20 he arrived in Paris where he lived until he died in 1946.

It is known that the fledgling Linke workshops were active in Paris in the Faubourg St. Antoine as early as 1881, and during this time he supplied furniture for other more established makers such as Jansen and Krieger.

The quality of Linke's craftsmanship was unsurpassed by any of his contemporaries and reached its peak with his spectacular stand at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, where his Grand Bureau took the gold medal.  He gambled his fortune and reputation on this stand, exhibiting several breathtaking items of furniture with sculptural mounts of the most exceptional quality and proportion.  His gamble worked and his reputation was established to such an extent that Linke continued to be the pre-eminent furniture house in Paris until the Second World War.  

As the Art Journal reported in 1900 on Linke's stand:
'The work of M. Linke ... was an example of what can be done by seeking inspiration amongst the classic examples of Louis XV and XVI without in any great sense copying these great works.  M. Linke's work was original in the true sense of the word, and as such commended itself to the intelligent seeker after the really artistic things of the Exhibition. Wonderful talent was employed in producing the magnificent pieces of furniture displayed....'

The formation of Linke's distinctive style was made possible by his collaboration with the sculptor Léon Messagé.  

Together Linke and Messagé designed furniture for Linke's 1900 exhibition stand, with  exuberant allegorical figures cast in high relief, that exemplified Linke's ability to seamlessly merge the different mediums of wood carving, bronze and marquetry into a dynamic unified whole.
 
Today Linke is best known for the exceptionally high quality of his work, as well as his individualism and inventiveness.  All of his work has the finest, most lavish mounts, very often applied to comparatively simple carcasses.  The technical brilliance of his work and the artistic change that it represented were never to be repeated. 

French, Circa 1900.

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Price on application

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

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