The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Figure personifying a spring

Art Object

Demonstration of David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player

Watch a demonstration of Queen Marie Antoinette's Automaton playing one of eight melodies it can perform.

David Roentgen (1743–1807) took his royal patron by surprise when he delivered this beautiful automaton to King Louis XVI for his queen, Marie Antoinette, in 1784. The cabinetry for this piece is very much a neoclassical masterwork, and the mechanism behind it is truly extraordinary: the figure strikes the strings in perfect rhythm with two small metal hammers held in her hands, which move with great precision.

This object, from the Musée des arts et métiers de Paris, is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).

View a full documentary featuring this object: http://www.cerimes.fr/le-catalogue/la-joueuse-de-tympanon.html

Footage courtesy of CERIMES.

David Roentgen: Long-Case Clock
(00:00:52)

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10549 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16461 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3008 views

Figure personifying a spring

Model probably supplied by Guillaume Dupré (French, 1574–1642)

Maker:: Probably made in the pottery at Avon of Claude Bertélemy (French, 1525–1626)
Date:: ca. 1620–25, model ca. 1600–1610
Culture:: French, Fontainebleau or Avon
Medium:: lead-glazed earthenware
Dimensions:: H. 3-3/16 in. (8.1 cm.), L. 7-15/16 in. (20.2 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Gift of Julia A. Berwind, 1953
Accession Number:: 53.225.54

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 544

Description

Coiffed and bejeweled in the height of turn-of-the-century courtly fashion, a female nude reclines in a pool of water. The overturned urn and the cornucopia she holds identify her as a personification of a natural spring, a favorite subject of the School of Fontainebleau. The scoop shape suggests that the cup was a toilet accessory, possibly used for bathing, although its fine state of preservation indicates that it likely served a purely decorative function.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Marking: On stickers: 1] 15 2] 6761 (Berwind list number)
Provenance

Possibly Émile Gavet (until 1897, possibly this piece; sale, Collection de M. Emile Gavet, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 31–June 9, 1897, no. 514)
See also
Who
Guillaume Dupré (26)

Claude Bertélemy (1)
What
Metal (59,364)

Ceramics (29,320)

Pottery (12,856)

Earthenware (6,696)

Drinking vessels (6,032)

Cups (3,861)

Glazing (3,020)

Lead (1,164)
Where
Europe (148,586)

France (52,276)

Seine-et-Marne (51)

Fontainebleau (21)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Ceramics in the French Renaissance

France, 1600–1800 A.D.

France, 1400–1600 A.D.
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Demonstration of David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player

Figure personifying a spring

Model probably supplied by Guillaume Dupré (French, 1574–1642)

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Demonstration of David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player

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Figure personifying a spring

Model probably supplied by Guillaume Dupré (French, 1574–1642)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store