The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player (La Joueuse de Tympanon)

Watch this surprising video of an automaton play the dulcimer.

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).

See the full video: 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) 10613 views

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

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

Work table

Martin Carlin (French, near Freiburg im Breisgau ca. 1730–1785 Paris)

Date:: ca. 1785
Culture:: French
Medium:: Oak and sycamore veneered with ebony, Japanese and European lacquer; gilt-bronze mounts; drawer lined with green silk
Dimensions:: 28-3/16 x 17-1/4 x 13-1/16 in. (71.6 x 43.8 x 33.2 cm)
Classification:: Woodwork
Credit Line:: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1976
Accession Number:: 1976.155.103

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Signature: M. CARLIN JME. (stamped beneath fore edge of drawer)

Inscription: [inscribed in ink on underside of lacquer panel at top]: August 3rd 1843, D H, No. 170
Provenance

Brigadier R.J. Cooper (until 1947; sale, Christie's, London, October 30, 1947, lot 114 ; to Lee); Morton Lee (from 1947)
See also
Who
Martin Carlin (20)
What
Metal (59,364)

Silk (32,922)

Copper alloy (16,630)

Bronze (11,628)

Gilt (9,043)

Wood (7,651)

Furniture (5,725)

Plate (2,675)

Woodwork (2,582)

Lacquer (1,745)

Ormolu (1,683)

Oak (1,089)

Tables (974)

Ebony (362)

Drawers (197)

Sycamore (91)

Work tables (23)
Where
Europe (148,586)

France (52,276)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,179)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
France, 1600–1800 A.D.
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David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player (La Joueuse de Tympanon)

Work table

Martin Carlin (French, near Freiburg im Breisgau ca. 1730–1785 Paris)

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David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player (La Joueuse de Tympanon)

Related Content

Work table

Martin Carlin (French, near Freiburg im Breisgau ca. 1730–1785 Paris)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store