The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Beaker with cover and saucer

Art Object

Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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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Beaker with cover and saucer

Date:: ca. 1690
Culture:: Chinese
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions:: Beaker (.210): H. with cover 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.); Saucer (.211): Diam. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Purchase by subscription, 1879
Accession Number:: 79.2.210 ab, 211

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Beaker with cover and saucer

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