The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

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

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.

Video/Audio (4)

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

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10652 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16792 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3020 views

Sugar spoon

Claude-Auguste Aubry (master 1758, recorded 1791)

Date:: 1778–79 or 1780–81
Culture:: French (Paris)
Medium:: Silver gilt
Dimensions:: L. 7-1/4 in. (18.4 cm.)
Classification:: Metalwork
Credit Line:: Gift of Mrs. Samuel P. Avery, 1897
Accession Number:: 97.2.17

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: E.C.O. (engraved on back of handle, Gothic letters)

Marking: [1] Crowned fleur-de-lis, 2 grains de remède, C A, device a crozier (maker's mark) [2] PARIS in cipher (Paris charge mark for gold and small silver, 1774-80) [3] Crowned P or R (Paris warden's mark, 1778-79 or 1780-81) [4] Indecipherable (possibly another strike of mark [1]) Location of marks: [1]-[3] on back of bowl [4] inside bowl
See also
Who
Claude-Auguste Aubry (1)
What
Metal (59,364)

Metalwork (14,716)

Silver (14,056)

Gilt (9,043)

Flatware (2,143)

Spoons (1,860)

Sugar spoons (14)
Where
Europe (148,586)

France (52,276)

Paris (2,025)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,179)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
France, 1600–1800 A.D.

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

Sugar spoon

Claude-Auguste Aubry (master 1758, recorded 1791)

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

Related Content

Sugar spoon

Claude-Auguste Aubry (master 1758, recorded 1791)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store