The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

See how this desk converts into a dressing table.

When closed, this table may not seem like one of the most complex pieces of European furniture ever made. However, once opened, its concealed drawers and hidden features are exposed, and the entire piece transforms into a dressing table, orpoudreuse. Scholars believe it was commissioned as a wedding gift from Abraham (1711–1793) and David Roentgen (1743–1807) by Friedrich August III, Elector of Saxony, to his bride in 1769.

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

Images courtesy of Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt.

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Watchmaker: Pieter Klock (1665–1754, working 1704)

Maker:: Case maker: Jean Pierre Huaud (a.k.a. the younger Huaud) (1655–1723)
Maker:: Case maker: Ami Huaud (1657–1724)
Date:: ca. 1704–20
Culture:: Dutch (Amsterdam) and Swiss (Geneva)
Medium:: Case: painted enamel on gold
Dimensions:: Diam. 1-3/4 in. (4.4 cm)
Classification:: Horology
Credit Line:: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:: 17.190.1436 ab

This artwork is not on display

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Watchmaker: Pieter Klock (1665–1754, working 1704)

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Watchmaker: Pieter Klock (1665–1754, working 1704)

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