The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Wine cup with cover

Art Object

Demonstration of David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player

Watch a demonstration of Queen Marie Antoinette's Automaton playing one of eight melodies it can perform.

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).

View a full documentary featuring this object: 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) 10702 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16956 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3033 views

Wine cup with cover

Mounts by Affabel Partridge (British, active ca. 1551–1580)

Date:: ca. 1565
Culture:: British, London and Chinese
Medium:: Chinese porcelain, silver-gilt
Dimensions:: Overall (confirmed): 7 3/8 x 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 in., 14 oz. 5 dwt. (18.7 x 13.3 x 13.3 cm, 0.443kg)
Classification:: Metalwork
Credit Line:: Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1968
Accession Number:: 68.141.125a, b

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 521

Description

The red-glazed ground of this cup was originally decorated with a finely-drawn gold decoration which has now largely worn off. This style of painting in gold on a colored ground was produced in China primarily for the Japanese market, where it was termed kinrande ("gold brocaded.") Queen Elizabeth I was presented with a similar mounted cup in 1582.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: scratched 9-10 8 9 IV TT

Marking: [1] bird in shaped shield (maker's mark)
Provenance

the Rt. Hon. Montague, first Lord Swaythling (until 1924) ; [ Christie's, London ; May 6, 1924, #115 ] ; William Randolph Hearst ; Irwin Untermyer (until 1968; to MMA)
See also
Who
Affabel Partridge (1)
What
Metal (59,619)

Clay (23,658)

Metalwork (14,693)

Silver (14,061)

Porcelain (11,376)

Gilt (9,068)

Drinking vessels (6,032)

Cups (3,861)

Wine cups (68)
Where
Europe (150,115)

United Kingdom (25,745)

England (9,106)

London (2,008)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,612)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,264)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Great Britain and Ireland, 1400–1600 A.D.

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Demonstration of David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player

Wine cup with cover

Mounts by Affabel Partridge (British, active ca. 1551–1580)

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Demonstration of David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player

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Wine cup with cover

Mounts by Affabel Partridge (British, active ca. 1551–1580)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store