The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

Hidden Doors and Secret Drawers: Furniture by the Roentgens

Wolfram Koeppe, the Marina Kellen French Curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, discusses the intricate furniture designs created by Abraham and David Roentgen. The father-and-son team created innovative designs that were combined with intriguing mechanical devices to revolutionize traditional French and English furniture types.

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens, on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013.

The exhibition and catalogue are made possible by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation.

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

Cup and saucer

Date:: early 18th century
Culture:: Chinese
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions:: Cup (.1): H. 2 in. (5.1 cm.); Diam. 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm.) Saucer (.2): Gr. Diam. 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Helena Woolworth McCann Collection, Purchase, Winfield Foundation Gift, 1969
Accession Number:: 69.63.1, 2

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: GARDES VOUS DE LA SYRENE (on banderole of each, above mermaid; trans: Beware of the Sirens)

Marking: see catalogue cards (in underglaze blue enclosed in double ring, on underside of each)
Provenance

Sir Percival David (until 1968; sale, Sotheby & Co., October 15, 1968, no. 146; to Vita Juel); [ Vita Juel (from 1968) ] ; [ Chait Galleries , New York, 1969; sold to MMA ]
See also
What
Ceramics (29,327)

Clay (23,658)

Faience (11,693)

Porcelain (11,376)

Dishes (6,713)

Drinking vessels (6,032)

Cups (3,861)

Plates (3,606)

Hard paste porcelain (2,916)

Saucers (1,316)
Where
Asia (68,271)

China (17,423)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,675)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,264)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Central and North Asia, 1600–1800 A.D.

China, 1600–1800 A.D.