A FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED KINGWOOD AND ROSEWOOD BUREAU PLAT

LITERATURE:
C. Payne, François Linke 1855-1946: The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, Woodbridge, 2003, pp. 438-9.

Index Number 133 was perhaps among Linke's favoured models, which he produced in an array of sizes and kept the largest-available version in his personal study. Payne cites that around 1911 the authorship of index number 133 was the subject of some dispute. According to Linke's registres, the firm had supplied twenty-six models to Schmidt & Piollet soon after the design's inception in 1892. However, Linke increased the production costs of the popular model and as a result Schmidt, a long-standing client of Linke's, had copied the model without the appropriate permissions. Though the outcome of the dispute can only be speculated, letters written by Linke in response to Schmidt's reproductions confirmed that the designs were of his own hand with the chutes designed by Léon Messagé.

Another example of Index Number 133 of the same size, sold Christie's, New York, 25 October 2007, lot 447 ($49,000).