The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Summer

Art Object

Program Information

Demonstration of David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player

Program information

Watch a demonstration of Queen Marie Antoinette's Automaton playing one of eight melodies it can perform.

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).

View a full documentary featuring this object: http://www.cerimes.fr/le-catalogue/la-joueuse-de-tympanon.html

Footage courtesy of CERIMES.

Video/Audio (4)

David Roentgen: Long-Case Clock

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

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10679 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16910 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3027 views

Related Content

Candelabra with Meissen bird (one of a pair)

Candelabra with Meissen bird (one of a pair)

Candelabra with Meissen bird (one of a pair)

Candelabra with Meissen bird (one of a pair)

Candelabra with Meissen bird (one of a pair)

Candelabra with Meissen bird (one of a pair)

Browse current and upcoming exhibitions and events.

Great Rooms: European Decorative Arts
May 28, 2013
Great Rooms: European Decorative Arts
May 29, 2013
Great Rooms: European Decorative Arts
May 30, 2013
Great Rooms: European Decorative Arts
May 31, 2013
Great Rooms: European Decorative Arts
June 4, 2013
Great Rooms: European Decorative Arts
June 5, 2013

Summer

Meissen Manufactory (German, 1710–present)

Modeler:: Johann Friedrich Eberlein (1695–1749)
Date:: originally modeled 1745
Culture:: German (Meissen)
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain, gilt-bronze
Dimensions:: H. 15-1/2 in. (39.4 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Gift of Ann Payne Blumenthal, 1943
Accession Number:: 43.163.11a, b

This artwork is not on display

120014470