The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

The Roentgens' Rolltop Desk

Watch as this desk's hidden features are revealed.

The richly embellished surface of this rolltop desk conceals a wealth of mechanical surprises and features, including a spectacular arrangement of almost forty compartments and drawers. Abraham (1711–1793) and David Roentgen (1743–1807) designed this table not just for writing and reading but also to function as a dressing table, or poudreuse.

This table, from Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens in Washington, D.C., is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).

Learn more about this object: http://trio.hillwoodmuseum.org/detail.php?t=objects&type=related&kv=13072

Footage courtesy of Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.

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

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10613 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16640 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3015 views

Teapot with cover

Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)

Decorator:: Louis-Antoine Le Grand (active 1776–1824)
Date:: 1780
Culture:: French (Sèvres)
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions:: H. with cover 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Gift of R. Thornton Wilson, in memory of Florence Ellsworth Wilson, 1954
Accession Number:: 54.147.16a, b

This artwork is not on display

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The Roentgens' Rolltop Desk

Teapot with cover

Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)

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The Roentgens' Rolltop Desk

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Teapot with cover

Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)

Met Media

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