Search the collections

Videos (3)
David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player (La Joueuse de Tympanon)

Close

<p>Please enable flash to view this media. <a href="http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/">Download the flash player.</a></p>

Please enable flash to view this media. Download the flash player.

Art Object
Program Information

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.

David Roentgen: Long-Case Clock

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

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 11562 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 18147 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3152 views

Related Content

St. Roch Interceding before the Holy Trinity for Plague Victims

St. Roch Interceding before the Holy Trinity for Plague Victims

Cephalus Receiving the Spear and Hound from Procris

Cephalus Receiving the Spear and Hound from Procris

Man Seen From Behind

Man Seen From Behind

Clump of Trees

Clump of Trees

The Dead Tree

The Dead Tree

Browse current and upcoming exhibitions and events.

Exhibitions:

Events:

Events:

Diana and her Nymphs

After a painting by Laurent de La Hyre  (French, Paris 1606–1656 Paris)

Maker:
Weaving workshop directed by Hippolyte de Comans (Faubourg Saint-Marcel, Paris, active 1651–65)
Date:
before 1662
Culture:
French, Paris
Medium:
Wool, silk, silver-gilt thread (22-23 warps per inch, 8-9 per cm.)
Dimensions:
H: 136 1/2 x W: 216 1/2 in. (346.7 x 549.9 cm)
Classification:
Textiles
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number:
20.44.3

This artwork is not on display

120037809

Close