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) 10679 views

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

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

Miniature brazier

Pierre Belleville (1700–1765, master 1730)

Date:: 1754–55
Culture:: French (Montpellier)
Medium:: Silver
Dimensions:: H. 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm); L. 5 1/8 in. (13.0 cm.)
Classification:: Metalwork
Credit Line:: Bequest of Catherine D. Wentworth, 1948
Accession Number:: 48.187.111

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Marking: [1] (maker's mark) [2] Crowned cock (Montpellier mark of charge, 1753-1757) [3] (Montpellier warden's mark, 1754-1755) [4] (Montpellier mark of discharge, 1753-1757) Location of marks: [1]-[3] on bottom [4] on outside of one leg
See also
Who
Pierre Belleville (2)
What
Metal (59,587)

Metalwork (14,690)

Silver (14,059)

Braziers (30)
Where
Europe (150,013)

France (49,321)

Languedoc-Roussillon (26)

Montpellier (17)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,646)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,264)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
France, 1600–1800 A.D.

WHAT IS MYMET?

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

Miniature brazier

Pierre Belleville (1700–1765, master 1730)

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

Miniature brazier

Pierre Belleville (1700–1765, master 1730)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store