the languedoc rouge marble top over two drawers decorated sans traverse in fruitwood and end-cut floral marquetry, signed F. Linke to one lion's pelt mount, and with FL cold stamp on several bronze mounts, including the underside of the upper lock escutcheon plate

Christie's London, February 25, 1999, lot 27

Christopher Payne, François Linke, 1855-1946, The Belle Epoque of French Furniture,  Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2003, pp.218-227 (for a discussion on the 'Bureau de roi' and its variations), p. 498 for a cliché of index 720.

In good restored condition overall. The lower proper left side of the back carcase panel with a split of approx. 5 cm long but stable. Scattered infilled age cracks to the front and sides, the longest on the proper right side. Marble top old but possibly not original to the piece. Some wear around lock mortice. Imposing proportions with marquetry and bronzes of outstanding quality, ready to place.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This commode, richly mounted with ormolu laurel festoons, cornucopia and Nemean lion's pelts that suggest the reward of 'abundance through labour' and recall the Labours of Hercules, is inspired by Oeben and Riesener's famous Bureau du roi delivered in 1769 to the Palace of Versailles. Linke made four copies of this celebrated cylinder desk, the first completed in 1902 and the last one begun in 1943, when Linke was 88. The enduring popularity of the model led Linke to incorporate the lion's pelt mounts into a monumental bibliotheque, bureau plats, bergères, pedestals, and commodes. Leon Messagé had sketched out a commode on the theme of the Bureau du roi in the 1880s, but had human forms at the corners instead of lion's pelt mounts. There appears to be two variations of index 720, one with a bronze mount of falling vines within the central oval laurel wreath, as in the present example (see also a commode sold Christie's London 13th May 1999, lot 152); and one with a marquetry panel there instead (see Christie's 22 June 2016, the Collection of Joan Rivers, lot 27, also Sotheby's New York, Property from the Marshall Galleries, December 15 1984, lot 33). Of the four examples of index 720 sold at auction in last 35 years, this particular example is exemplary for its particularly fine floral marquetry, likely derived (as was the marquetry on the Bureau du roi) from engravings from Juste Chevillet's Livre de Principes de Fleurs, after drawings by Louis Tessier. For a discussion on floral marquetry on 18th century French furniture, see Yannick Chastang,  Louis Tessier's Livre de Principes de Fleurs and the eighteenth-century marqueteur, Furniture History, Vol. XLIII (2007), pp.115-126.