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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Art Object
Program Information

Demonstration of 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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Painted in the manner of Fra Xanto Avelli da Rovigo  (ca. 1486–1582)

Artist:
After an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi (Italian, Argini (?) ca. 1480–before 1534 Bologna (?))
Artist:
Possibly after a composition by Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) (Italian, Urbino 1483–1520 Rome)
Artist:
or after a composition by Giulio Romano (Italian, Rome 1499?–1546 Mantua)
Date:
ca. 1530–35
Culture:
Italian (Urbino)
Medium:
Maiolica (tin-enameled earthenware)
Dimensions:
Overall (confirmed): 2 1/8 x 18 1/2 in. (5.4 x 47 cm)
Classification:
Ceramics
Credit Line:
Samuel D. Lee Fund, 1941
Accession Number:
41.49.4

This artwork is not on display

120013684

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