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Art Object

Program Information

Abraham Roentgen's Writing Desk

Program information

Discover the secret compartments of this writing table and see how it can be transformed into a private altar.

Perhaps the most exquisite and technically refined piece from German cabinetmaker Abraham Roentgen (1711–1793), this desk was made for his premier patron, the Catholic official Johann Philipp von Walderdorff. Its interior holds a multitude of drawers, panels, and compartments, in addition to sophisticated mechanical fittings that safeguard the elector’s privacy.

This writing table from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013). Learn more about the table: http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/collectie/BK-16676/bureau-op-s-vormige-poten-versierd-met-marqueterie.

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Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
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Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
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Browse current and upcoming exhibitions and events.

CANCELED: Exhibition Tour—Plain or Fancy?: Restraint and Exuberance in the Decorative Arts
June 20, 2013
Gallery Talk and Demonstration—Roentgen Furniture
July 12, 2013
Summer Sketching—European Sculpture (Ages 11–18)
July 24, 2013
Exhibition Tour—Plain or Fancy?: Restraint and Exuberance in the Decorative Arts
July 25, 2013
Conversation with a Curator and a Conservator—The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
August 2, 2013
Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution
August 6, 2013

Watch

Watchmaker: Johann G. Racine (recorded 1748)

Artist:: Enameler: Jean Pierre Huaud (a.k.a. the younger Huaud) (1655–1723)
Date:: case: ca. 1686–88, movement: ca. 1750
Culture:: German (Berlin)
Medium:: Case: painted enamel on gold
Dimensions:: Diam. 1-1/2 in. (3.8 cm)
Classification:: Horology
Credit Line:: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:: 17.190.1522

This artwork is not on display

120008827