The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712

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.

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

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10613 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16640 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3015 views

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)

After a model by Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris)

Date:: late 18th century, after a model of 1778
Culture:: French
Medium:: Painted plaster; painted and gilded wood
Dimensions:: H. (of bust) 26 1/2 in. (67.3 cm)
Classification:: Sculpture
Credit Line:: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1908
Accession Number:: 08.89.2a, b

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: Inscribed in gold on a black ground in the medallion on the pedestal: VITAN/.IMPE|/|DERE.VERO./ J.J. ROUSSEAU. |/|E. / E|/| 1712. MORT./ E|/| 1778.

Marking: Red wax atelier seal on back of bust; ACADEM[IE]/ROYALE/DE PEINTURE/ET SCULP[TURE]/HOUDON/Sc.
Provenance

J. Pierpont Morgan (until 1908; to MMA)
See also
Who
Jean Antoine Houdon (23)
What
Sculpture (24,350)

Gilt (9,043)

Wood (7,651)

Painting (5,225)

Figures (5,008)

Plaster (842)

Busts (553)
Where
Europe (148,586)

France (52,276)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,179)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Jean–Antoine Houdon (1741–1828)

France, 1600–1800 A.D.

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

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)

After a model by Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris)

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

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Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)

After a model by Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store