Messagé was born on 8 March 1842, probably in Sens in the Yonne where his parents continued to live, although his birth was not registered until twenty years later.
[1] There were five sections to the book, with an elaborate title page surmounted by the sculptor's cipher or talisman of a wing, a pun on his own name as the messenger to the Gods, a motif he used many times on the handles of furniture designed for Linke.
His maquettes were of the piece of furniture in its entirety, a rare and exacting task occasionally seen for eighteenth century French Royal commissions.
Payne, Christopher, François Linke, 1855 - 1946, The Belle Époque of French Furniture, Antique Collectors' Club, (Woodbridge, UK); 2003, pp. 71–95.
Mestdagh, Camille, Pierre Lécoules, L'Ameublement d'art français: 1850-1900, Editions de l'Amateur; (Paris) 2010, pp. 173–176.