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The Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Art Object
Program Information

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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Table

Royal Porcelain Manufactory, Berlin 

Designer:
Design attributed to Karl Friedrich Schinkel (German, Neuruppin 1781–1841 Berlin)
Decorator:
August von Kloeber (1793–1864)
Decorator:
Gottfried Wilhelm Voelker (1772–1849)
Maker:
Bronze and metal mounts by Bronzeure Werner und Neffen (Berlin)
Date:
ca. 1833–34
Culture:
German (Berlin)
Medium:
Hardpaste porcelain, gilded bronze, and yellow metal; iron and wood as support materials
Dimensions:
Overall: 35 1/2 x 31 in. diameter of top (includes frame) (90.2 x 78.7 cm)
Classification:
Ceramics
Credit Line:
Wrightsman Fund, 2000
Accession Number:
2000.189

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 553

120026996

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