The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Labors of Hercules

Art Object

Unfolding an Eighteenth-Century Gaming Table

This finely crafted piece of furniture has a secret. Swing out a leg, adjust an arm, and voilà! Leaves unfold to reveal multiple configurations: a felt surface for card games, a game board for chess or checkers, a desk with a leather writing surface and book rest. Tug at a hidden latch, and a spring-driven backgammon board pops up.

The brainchild of German cabinetmaker David Roentgen (1743–1807), this sophisticated gaming table once graced the intimate interior of an aristocratic European home. The exquisite piece was not only convenient for entertaining guests, but it was also portable—its legs unscrew so it can easily be packed and moved.

This 3-D animation of the table demonstrates its different configurations and illuminates its concealed features, including drawers for tucking away personal items and compartments for storing game pieces.

See Collections to learn more about this table.

This table is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).

David Roentgen: Long-Case Clock
(00:00:52)

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10652 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16792 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3020 views

Labors of Hercules

Date:: third quarter 16th century
Culture:: Flemish or German, Rheinland
Medium:: Boxwood and various woods (marquetry)
Dimensions:: H. 1 3/16 in. (3 cm)
Classification:: Sculpture
Credit Line:: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:: 17.190.310

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 520

Description

The pendant was probably intended as a display piece for a Kunstkammer, or collector's cabinet, demonstrating the technical skill of its maker.
Provenance

Charles Stein (until 1886; his sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1886, no. 3 ); Baron Albert von Oppenheim (until 1906; sale, April 13, 1906, no. 187; to Morgan) ; J. Pierpont Morgan (until 1917; to MMA)
See also
What
Costume (41,678)

Sculpture (24,350)

Wood (7,651)

Jewelry (7,519)

Pendants (2,209)

Miniature (768)

Boxwood (241)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Germany (15,865)

Rhineland (55)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,545)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Collecting for the Kunstkammer

Central Europe (including Germany), 1400–1600 A.D.