The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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Cup and saucer

Dagoty (1798–1820)

Date:: ca. 1810
Culture:: French (Paris) (rue de Chevreuse)
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions:: Cup (.76): H. with handle 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) Saucer (.77): Diam. 5 in. (12.7 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Gift of Alfred Duane Pell, 1902
Accession Number:: 02.6.76, .77

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Marking: [1] Dagoty / à Paris (stenciled in pale orange on cup) [2] P.L.Dagoty / à Paris (stenciled in darker orange on saucer, with illegible traces of mark in same color above)
Provenance

Rev. Alfred Duane Pell (until 1902; to MMA)
See also
Who
Dagoty (1)
What
Ceramics (29,320)

Clay (23,649)

Faience (11,698)

Porcelain (11,369)

Dishes (6,707)

Drinking vessels (6,032)

Cups (3,861)

Plates (3,598)

Hard paste porcelain (2,917)

Saucers (1,314)
Where
Europe (148,586)

France (52,276)

Paris (2,025)
When
A.D. 1800-1900 (80,185)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
France, 1800–1900 A.D.

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

Cup and saucer

Dagoty (1798–1820)

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Cup and saucer

Dagoty (1798–1820)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store