François Linke

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

François Linke , Franz Linke (born June 17, 1855 in Deutsch-Pankraz , today Jítrava in Northern Bohemia , Austrian Empire , today the Czech Republic ; † May 30, 1946 in Paris ) was a leading Parisian cabinet maker .

François Linke is regarded as the most important Parisian cabinet maker in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The main sources of his work are the furniture of the French Rococo and Classicism during the reign of Louis XV. (including Régence ) and Louis XVI.

Life

Franz Linke was born as the second of eleven children in the village of Deutsch Pankraz near Deutsch Gabel Německé Jablonné , today Jablonné v Podještědí by Maria Linke. His father Albert, like his uncle Martin, worked as a stonemason . From 1861 he attended school in the village, which was dominated by Catholic and German-speaking countries. His school days ended in 1867 at the age of twelve.

education

In 1868, at the age of 13, Franz Linke began training as a cabinet maker in a workshop in nearby Reichenberg . During this time he also learned the Czech language.

Wandering

As Linke's received work book shows, he worked for three months in Prague and from July 1872 to October 1873 in Vienna , where a world exhibition was taking place at that time . There he worked as an assistant in a cabinet maker that belonged to the guild . Franz Linke was registered as a journeyman through the Viennese guild . He emigrated from Vienna to Budapest and returned to Bohemia in 1875.

After being released from military service, Linke left Austria-Hungary and in 1875 emigrated via Saxon Switzerland to Dresden and from Electoral Saxony on via Weimar in Thuringia and via Upper Hesse and Rheinhessen to Mainz . At the end of 1875 he left Germany and moved on to Paris , which he reached at the age of twenty-one at the turn of the year 1875. It is believed that Linke was his first job with the ébéniste Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener from Germany . Zwiener was a master and, unlike the leftist who had arrived, had a workshop and the necessary tools.

Due to the six-month limitation of the passport for foreign letters up to the age of 23, Franz Linke was also forced to report to the police again in Deutsch Gabel. Linke fulfilled this obligation at the end of 1876, in the middle and at the end of 1877. From 1877 he worked again in Reichenberg with his old teacher, the cabinet maker Franz Neumann. At the age of 22, during the ten months in Reichenberg, he made his masterpiece, but was not yet a master of the guild. He reached Paris as early as October 1877. It seems that Linke had already made his decision during his previous stays to work permanently in one of the 900 or so workshops in Paris and to remain in France as a migrant . In Paris he attended the third world exhibition in 1878 .

Own workshop in Paris

In 1881, Linke opened his own workshop in rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine 170, which he managed until his death. The Faubourg Saint-Antoine has been the center of Parisian carpentry since the 18th century. On May 19, 1881, Linke married Julie Teutsch, with whom they had four children, two sons and two daughters. In 1889 he obtained unlimited residence in France and five years later he acquired French citizenship. In the early days, Linke manufactured furniture for more established producers such as Jansen and Krieger. With the award of a gold medal for a "Grand Bureau" at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, he definitely established himself as one of the leading cabinet makers of his time. In 1903 he founded a showroom on the Place de Vendôme and enjoyed success that lasted until the Second World War. In 1906 he was raised by France to the Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur. Even after the turn of the century, Linke used international trade fairs to open up new markets for his workshop. In 1904 he took part in the World Exhibition in St. Louis and in 1908 in the Franco-British Exhibition in London. The style spectrum of the furniture he designed ranges from Régence to Rococo to Louis XVI, but he adapted his models to the taste of his time, with Art Nouveau influences in particular. Gilded bronze fittings in the tradition of André-Charles Boulle or Charles Cressent are also typical of Linke's workshop .

After Linkes death, his workshop was continued by his former Contre-Maître Hans (Jean) Bieder from Liestal.

Work

literature

  • Christopher Payne: François Linke. 1855-1946. The Belle Epoque of French Furniture . Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge, Suffolk 2003, ISBN 1-85149-440-5 .
  • Stefan Hess , Wolfgang Loescher : World class in Liestal. The art joinery Bieder . (= Sources and research on the history and regional studies of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft. Volume 98). Verlag des Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal 2016, ISBN 978-3-85673-291-2 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Left, François
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Left, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French cabinet maker of Bohemian origin
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH German Pankraz , today Jítrava , Northern Bohemia , Austrian Empire , today the Czech Republic
DATE OF DEATH May 30, 1946
Place of death Paris