Search the collections

Videos (3)
David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player (La Joueuse de Tympanon)

Close

<p>Please enable flash to view this media. <a href="http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/">Download the flash player.</a></p>

Please enable flash to view this media. Download the flash player.

Art Object
Program Information

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

Program information

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

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

Guy le Gentil, Marquis de Paroy

Guy le Gentil, Marquis de Paroy

Marie-Catherine Jacquet and her husband, Orien Marais

Marie-Catherine Jacquet and her husband, Orien Marais

Louis XV (1710-1774)

Louis XV (1710-1774)

Portrait of a Man, possibly Dr. Dornier, 1764

Portrait of a Man, possibly Dr. Dornier, 1764

Suzanne-Elisabeth-Françoise de Jarente de La Reynière

Suzanne-Elisabeth-Françoise de Jarente de La Reynière

Browse current and upcoming exhibitions and events.

Exhibitions:

Events:

Events:

Portrait of an ecclesiastic

Jean-Baptiste Nini  (Italian, Urbino 1717–1786 Chaumont-sur-Loire)

Date:
1765
Culture:
French
Medium:
Cast terracotta (terre de Chaumont); gilt-wood frame
Dimensions:
Diam. 6-5/8 in. (16.8 cm)
Classification:
Sculpture
Credit Line:
Gift of James Hazen Hyde, 1949
Accession Number:
49.20.5

This artwork is not on display

120015777

Close