The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet

Discover the hidden features and intricate interior of this cabinet.

One of the finest achievements of European furniture making, this cabinet is the most important product from Abraham (1711–1793) and David Roentgen's (1743–1807) workshop. A writing cabinet crowned with a chiming clock, it features finely designed marquetry panels and elaborate mechanisms that allow for doors and drawers to be opened automatically at the touch of a button. Owned by King Frederick William II, the Berlin cabinet is uniquely remarkable for its ornate decoration, mechanical complexity, and sheer size.

This cabinet, from Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).

Footage courtesy of VideoART GmbH and Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

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

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10549 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16461 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3008 views

Basin (Réchaud)

Date:: mid-16th century
Culture:: French, Saint-Porchaire or Paris
Medium:: Lead-glazed earthenware (white pottery)
Dimensions:: 5-3/4 x 8 in. (14.6 x 20.3 cm)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number:: 17.190.1741

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 544

Description

The shape suggests a chafing dish (réchaud in French). Food was kept warm in a separate receptacle placed atop the basin, which would have been filled with water heated by a brazier stored in the pedestal. However, the fragility of the Museum’s basin indicates that it served a purely decorative purpose. The purple-andgreen pillars and the large-scale floral motifs on a brown ground are unique to this piece.
Provenance

Sir Andrew Fountaine (before 1862–84; sale, Andrew Fountaine sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, June 1884, no. 297; to Mannheim); Charles Mannheim (1884–98; Charles Mannheim sale, no. 85) ; Baron Alphonse de Rothschild (by 1900) ; J. Pierpont Morgan (until 1917; to MMA)
See also
What
Metal (59,364)

Ceramics (29,320)

Vessels (21,921)

Pottery (12,856)

Earthenware (6,696)

Glazing (3,020)

Lead (1,164)

Basins (155)

Dish warmers (2)
Where
Europe (148,586)

France (52,276)

Paris (2,025)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,545)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
France, 1400–1600 A.D.