The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Sugar bowl with cover

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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Sugar bowl with cover

Mennecy

Date:: ca. 1760
Culture:: French (Mennecy)
Medium:: Soft-paste porcelain
Dimensions:: H. 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm.); L. 6 1/8 in. (15.6 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Gift of R. Thornton Wilson, in memory of Florence Ellsworth Wilson, 1950
Accession Number:: 50.211.131a, b

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

Sugar bowl with cover

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Sugar bowl with cover

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