The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Two-handled bowl (part of a set)

Art Object

Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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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Two-handled bowl (part of a set)

Date:: ca. 1585
Culture:: British, London and Chinese
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain, silver gilt
Dimensions:: H: 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm.), Diam: 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm.), Diam. with handles: 13 in. (33 cm.)
Classification:: Metalwork
Credit Line:: Rogers Fund, 1944
Accession Number:: 44.14.5

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 510

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Marking: unmarked
Provenance

William Cecil, Lord Burghley , Burghley, Northamptonshire, England ; Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter ; William Alleyne Cecil, 3rd Marquis of Exeter ; [ Exeter Sale, Christie's, London , June 7–8, 1888, 256-59; sold to Agnew ] ; William Agnew (in 1888) ; J. Pierpont Morgan ; J. P. Morgan Jr.
See also
What
Metal (59,364)

Clay (23,649)

Metalwork (14,716)

Silver (14,056)

Faience (11,698)

Porcelain (11,369)

Gilt (9,043)

Bowls (5,014)

Hard paste porcelain (2,917)
Where
Europe (148,586)

United Kingdom (25,557)

England (9,102)

London (2,006)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,545)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Great Britain and Ireland, 1400–1600 A.D.