The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Lamentation Beneath the Cross

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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Lamentation Beneath the Cross

Adam Lenckhart (1610–1661)

Date:: 1632
Culture:: Austrian (carved in Italy)
Medium:: Ivory
Dimensions:: 10-7/8 x 5-3/4 in. (27.6 x 14.6 cm)
Classification:: Sculpture
Credit Line:: Bequest of Mary Clark Thompson, 1923
Accession Number:: 24.80.87

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Signature: ADAM.LENCK: BILTHV: INVEN ANNO 1632

Inscription: Sacrum hoc Anaglyphum Opus/ Marchionissae Mariae Annae Triumphae Anconitanae,/dùm severiorem Carmelitarum Institutum in Monasterio/Sanctae Theresiae in Quirinali profiteretur ,/Aloysius Valentius Gonzaga Mantuanu(s) Cam. Apti(u) Cle(ri)ay/dono dedit in gratitudinis tesseram ergà/Marchionem Franciscum Triumphum eius Patrem. Idibus Junijs Anni 1763. (Latin writing on back of plaque. Translation: To the Marchesa Maria Anna Trionfi on the occasion of her profession of the austere rule of the Carmelites in the Convent of Santa Theresa in Quirinale, Aloysius Valentius Gonzaga of Mantua commendatory has given this sacred carving as a token of his gratitude to the Marchese Francesco Trionfi, her father. June the 13th, 1763.)
See also
Who
Adam Lenckhart (3)
What
Sculpture (24,350)

Bone (6,328)

Ivory (5,389)

Plaques (2,403)

Miniature (768)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Austria (2,138)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,179)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Ivory and Boxwood Carvings, 1450–1800

Central Europe (including Germany), 1600–1800 A.D.

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Adam Lenckhart (1610–1661)

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The Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Lamentation Beneath the Cross

Adam Lenckhart (1610–1661)

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