Search the collections

Videos (3)
Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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

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.

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) 11524 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 18103 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3147 views

Related Content

Bed cover

Bed cover

Piece

Piece

Piece

Piece

Piece

Piece

Piece

Piece

Browse current and upcoming exhibitions and events.

Exhibitions:

Events:

Events:

Piece

Date:
ca. 1820
Culture:
British
Medium:
Cotton
Dimensions:
L. 63 1/2 x W. W. 25 1/2 161.3 x 64.8 cm
Classification:
Textiles
Credit Line:
Gift of Bertha S. Westfall, 1929
Accession Number:
29.88

This artwork is not on display

120039972

Close