The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Annia Galeria Faustina, wife of Marcus Aurelius

Art Object

Program Information

The Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

Program information

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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July 24, 2013
Exhibition Tour—Plain or Fancy?: Restraint and Exuberance in the Decorative Arts
July 25, 2013
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Annia Galeria Faustina, wife of Marcus Aurelius

Medalist: Giovanni del Cavino (1500–1570)

Date:: 16th century
Culture:: Italian
Medium:: Bronze
Dimensions:: Diam. 1 3/8 in. (35 mm.)
Classification:: Medals and Plaquettes
Credit Line:: Gift of Ogden Mills, 1925
Accession Number:: 25.142.46

This artwork is not on display

120010181