The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Tray for ice cups (Plateaux bourets) (one of four) (part of a service)

Art Object

Program Information

The Roentgens' Rolltop Desk

Program information

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.

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Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration

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Browse current and upcoming exhibitions and events.

CANCELED: Exhibition Tour—Plain or Fancy?: Restraint and Exuberance in the Decorative Arts
June 20, 2013
Gallery Talk and Demonstration—Roentgen Furniture
July 12, 2013
Summer Sketching—European Sculpture (Ages 11–18)
July 24, 2013
Exhibition Tour—Plain or Fancy?: Restraint and Exuberance in the Decorative Arts
July 25, 2013
Conversation with a Curator and a Conservator—The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
August 2, 2013
Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution
August 6, 2013

Tray for ice cups (Plateaux bourets) (one of four) (part of a service)

Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)

Decorator:: Jean Armand Fallot (French, active 1764–90)
Date:: 1771
Culture:: French (Sèvres)
Medium:: Soft-paste porcelain
Dimensions:: W. 8 1/4 in. (21.0 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1976
Accession Number:: 1976.155.66

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 529

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