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David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player (La Joueuse de Tympanon)

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David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player (La Joueuse de Tympanon)

Program information

Watch this surprising video of an automaton play the dulcimer.

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).

See the full video: http://www.cerimes.fr/le-catalogue/la-joueuse-de-tympanon.html

Footage courtesy of CERIMES.

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Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation

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Dish (one of a pair)

Anthony Ficketts  (British, active 1635–85)

Date:
1664/65
Culture:
British, London
Medium:
Silver gilt
Dimensions:
Overall (confirmed): 2 1/2 x 18 x 18 in., 7 oz. 17 dwt. (6.4 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm, 244.3g)
Classification:
Metalwork
Credit Line:
Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1968
Accession Number:
68.141.79

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 510

  • Description

    The somber simplicity of these dishes, which were intended for display on a sideboard, is complemented by the restrained engraving of the armorials at the center. The shield contains the arms of Sir John Brownlow (1594–1679) impaling—that is, shown side-by-side with—the arms of his wife, Alice Pulteney. The crest above, depicting a greyhound, is engraved in a different style and was added by the family at a later date.

  • Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

    Inscription: Inscribed: 77-4 (on flat of underside) (weight in Troy ounces and penny weights)

    Marking: [1] Lion's head crowned; [2] Lion passant guardant; [3] G, date letter for London, 1664-65; [4] A F, a mullet between 2 pellets below, in pointed shield; Location of marks: [1]-[4] on outside of rim, on back of flute exactly above the crest of the arms, on .79; [2] on .79 on underside of flute directly above crest on obverse, near lip.

  • Provenance

    Sir John Brownlow (until 1929) ; [ Christie's, London , March 13, 1929, lot 58 ] ; William Randolph Hearst (until 1939) ; [ Parke-Bernet Galleries , January 5–7, 1939, lot 303 ] ; Irwin Untermyer (until 1968; to MMA)

  • See also
    Who
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
120020645

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