The Metropolitan Museum of Art

David Roentgen: Nemours Clock

Abraham and David Roentgen were renowned German cabinetmakers whose workshop was famed throughout Europe for its exquisite marquetry work and complex mechanical devices. Proportioned for a stately public room or library, this musical clock is likely to have been the first Roentgen object to reach the United States, belonging to Gouverneur Morris, one of the nation’s founding fathers. Not only does it tell time, but it also displays the interior works, which are hidden in most clocks.

This clock, from The Nemours Foundation, is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).

Video/Audio (4)

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

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
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Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 18190 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3155 views

Covered bowl

James Shruder (active 1737–49)

Date:: 1737
Culture:: British, London
Medium:: Silver gilt
Dimensions:: Overall (wt. confirmed): H. 6 x D. 5 9/16 in., Wt. 26.791oz. (15.2 x 14.1 cm, 759.5g)
Classification:: Metalwork
Credit Line:: Bequest of Irwin Untermyer, 1973
Accession Number:: 1974.28.185a, b

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 510

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David Roentgen: Nemours Clock

Covered bowl

James Shruder (active 1737–49)

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David Roentgen: Nemours Clock

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Covered bowl

James Shruder (active 1737–49)

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Met Kids

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