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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Art Object
Program Information

Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

Program information

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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Teapot

I. C. 

Date:
1699–1700
Culture:
French, Paris
Medium:
Silver, ebony
Dimensions:
H. 5-5/8 in. (14.3 cm.); L. 11-5/8 in. (29.5 cm.)
Classification:
Metalwork
Credit Line:
Bequest of Catherine D. Wentworth, 1948
Accession Number:
48.187.78

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 522

  • Description

    This teapot appears to be the only Parisian silver teapot of the period to have survived. The custom of tea drinking was still relatively new in France when this teapot was made, and its small size reflects the high cost of tea. Tea never gained the popularity of either coffee or chocolate in France, and silver teapots do not seem to have been produced in large quantities in the eighteenth century.
    The design of the teapot closely corresponds to Nicolas-Ambroise Cousinet's drawing of a teapot made for the duc d'Aumont. It is known that Cousinet sent the drawing to the Swedish court in 1702; French silver set the artistic standard for court silver throughout Europe, and the Swedes were especially influenced by French designs.

  • Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

    Marking: [1] Crowned fleur-de-lis, 2 grains de remède, I C, a pellet between letters (unidentified maker's mark); [2] A, with scepter and hand of justice (Paris charge mark, 1697–1704); [3] Crowned F (Paris warden's mark, 1699–1700); [4] Crowned lizard (Paris discharge mark for work made in more than one piece, 1697–1704); Location of marks: [1], [2], [3] inside cover; [1]-[4] under base; [1] on spout; [4] on flange under cover

  • Provenance

    Catherine D. Wentworth (until 1948; bequeathed to MMA)

  • See also
    Who
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
120015238

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