Francois Linke 1855-1946A fine quality Louis XV style gilt-bronze mounted Kingwood & rosewood centre table. The shaped top quarter veneered in rosewood with a gilt bronze band and wide kingwood banding, above a slim frieze with central mahogany lined drawer. The table is raised on four cabriole legs headed by female busts flanked by trailing acanthus scrolls and terminating in ormolu sabots. Fine quality mounts retaining the original gilding. Mounts marked ‘FL’ to the reverse.Height 29 1/2” (75cm)Width 55 1/2” (140cm)Depth 30 1/2” (77.5cm)FrenchCirca 1900Linke was born in Pankraz in Bohemia and was celebrated by the French as one of the greatest ébénistes of meubles de style at the turn of the century. He began his apprenticeship with a Bohemian master at the age of thirteen. Four years later, he toured Austria, settling and working in Vienna for two years. Linke arrived in Paris in 1875, and by 1881 he had established his own small workshop at 170 rue du Fa...