The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Ludwig Raab, Ecclesiastic

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.

Video/Audio (4)

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

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10632 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16720 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3016 views

Ludwig Raab, Ecclesiastic

Date:: 1576
Culture:: German
Medium:: Boxwood
Dimensions:: 7 x 4-3/8 in. (17.8 x 11.1 cm)
Classification:: Sculpture
Credit Line:: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:: 17.190.465

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: NON IN SERMONE.SED IN VIRTVTE: 1576 (On arch) LVDOVICVS.RABVS.S.THE/OLOGIAE./DOCTOR.ECCLESIAE./VLMENSIS SVPERINTENDENS/ Anno atatis L A / M. D. LXXV / AB (Below portrait)
Provenance

Baron Albert von Oppenheim (until at least 1904)
See also
What
Sculpture (24,350)

Wood (7,651)

Plaques (2,403)

Miniature (768)

Boxwood (241)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Germany (15,865)

Saxony (4,043)

Meissen (3,862)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,545)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Central Europe (including Germany), 1400–1600 A.D.