The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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

Soup plate

Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)

Designer:: Jean-Charles François Leloy (active 1816–44)
Decorator:: Decoration attributed to Antoine-Louis Bouvrain (active 1826–48)
Date:: 1847
Culture:: French (Sèvres)
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions:: H. 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.); Diam. 9 3/8 in. (23.8 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Bequest of Susan Matilda Watson (Mrs. J. Henry Watson), 1937
Accession Number:: 37.175.1

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: Monogram: LP addorsed (Louis-Philippe, King of the French, 1773-1850)

Marking: [1] Crowned reversed monogram LP flanked by SV 47 printed in green [2] Crowned LP SÈVRES 1847 in double-line circle printed in blue [3] Script B.. in blue green [4] CHATEAU / DE / F.BLEAU in crowned circle with dental edging [5] for incised marks see catalogue cards
Provenance

Château de Fontainebleau, FranceLouis Philippe, King of France ; Susan Matilda Watson (until 1937; bequeathed to MMA)
See also
Who
Sèvres Manufactory (695)

Jean-Charles François Leloy (2)

Antoine-Louis Bouvrain (1)
What
Ceramics (29,320)

Clay (23,649)

Faience (11,698)

Porcelain (11,369)

Dishes (6,707)

Plates (3,598)

Hard paste porcelain (2,917)

Soup plates (100)
Where
Europe (148,586)

France (52,276)

Sèvres (678)
When
A.D. 1800-1900 (80,185)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Sèvres Porcelain in the Nineteenth Century

France, 1800–1900 A.D.

WHAT IS MYMET?

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

Soup plate

Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store

WHAT IS MYMET?

Already have a mymet account? Sign in

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

Related Content

Soup plate

Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store