The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Shepherd and shepherdess in a landscape

Art Object

The Roentgens' Rolltop Desk

Watch as this desk's hidden features are revealed.

The richly embellished surface of this rolltop desk conceals a wealth of mechanical surprises and features, including a spectacular arrangement of almost forty compartments and drawers. Abraham (1711–1793) and David Roentgen (1743–1807) designed this table not just for writing and reading but also to function as a dressing table, or poudreuse.

This table, from Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens in Washington, D.C., is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).

Learn more about this object: http://trio.hillwoodmuseum.org/detail.php?t=objects&type=related&kv=13072

Footage courtesy of Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

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

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10583 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16547 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3012 views

Shepherd and shepherdess in a landscape

Johann Heinrich Meyer (1680–1752, Dresden)

Date:: ca. 1720–30
Culture:: Italian, Venice (Murano) and German, Dresden
Medium:: Glass
Dimensions:: H. 5 in. (12.7 cm); Diam. 3 in. (7.6 cm.)
Classification:: Glass
Credit Line:: Munsey Fund, 1927
Accession Number:: 27.185.232

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 533

Description

Over a landscape painted in enamel directly onto the glass, the figures of a lady and gentlemen dressed as shepherd and shepherdess have been heat-fused onto the glass bowl, enamel over a foundation of gold wire, to create a relief effect.
Provenance

Jacques Mühsam (until 1927)
See also
Who
Johann Heinrich Meyer (4)
What
Glass (16,037)

Drinking vessels (6,032)

Drinking glasses (1,102)

Goblets (258)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Italy (20,983)

Venice (1,391)

Murano (411)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,179)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Venice and Northern Italy, 1600–1800 A.D.

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The Roentgens' Rolltop Desk

Shepherd and shepherdess in a landscape

Johann Heinrich Meyer (1680–1752, Dresden)

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The Roentgens' Rolltop Desk

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Shepherd and shepherdess in a landscape

Johann Heinrich Meyer (1680–1752, Dresden)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store