The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Watch in the form of a Lesser George

Art Object

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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Watch in the form of a Lesser George

Movement by Nicholas Vallin (recorded ca. 1590, died 1603)

Date:: ca. 1600
Culture:: British, London
Medium:: Case: gold, partly enameled, and rock crystal; Movement: brass and steel, partly blued
Dimensions:: H. 1-1/8 x W. 7/8 in. (2.9 x 2.2 cm)
Classification:: Horology
Credit Line:: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:: 17.190.1475

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 517

Description

Made in the shape of an ensign of the English Order of the Garter, the case of this watch depicts Saint George fighting the dragon, and its band is enameled with the motto of the order: HONI.SOIT.QVI/ MAL.Y. PENSE. Its function as a timekeeper would have been incidental to its function as a jewel required to be worn by a knight of the order as part of his daily dress.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Signature: N. Vallin (on movement)
Provenance

Lord Londesborough , probably Grimston Park ; Frédéric Spitzer , Paris ; Carl Heinrich Marfels , Frankfurt and Berlin ; J. Pierpont Morgan , New York
See also
Who
Nicholas Vallin (2)
What
Metal (59,364)

Copper alloy (16,630)

Gold (12,457)

Iron and iron alloy (6,952)

Brass (3,505)

Iron alloy (3,389)

Steel (3,119)

Cases (1,751)

Timepieces (1,121)

Watches (767)

Crystal (611)

Quartz crystal (404)

Movements (73)
Where
Europe (148,586)

United Kingdom (25,557)

England (9,102)

London (2,006)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Seventeenth–Century European Watches

Great Britain and Ireland, 1400–1600 A.D.

Great Britain and Ireland, 1600–1800 A.D.

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The Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

Watch in the form of a Lesser George

Movement by Nicholas Vallin (recorded ca. 1590, died 1603)

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The Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Watch in the form of a Lesser George

Movement by Nicholas Vallin (recorded ca. 1590, died 1603)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store