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

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

Program information

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.

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Candelstand and worktable (Table à ouvrage en guéridon)

Attributed to Roger Vandercruse called Lacroix  (French, 1728–1799)

Factory:
Porcelain plaques by Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)
Decorator:
Decorator of porcelain by Charles Vandé (French, active 1785–91)
Date:
ca. 1785
Culture:
French
Medium:
Oak veneered with tulipwood, boxwood, holly and ebonized holly, sycamore, and other woods; soft-paste porcelain, gilt bronze, silk
Dimensions:
H. 31-1/8 in. (79.1 cm); Diam. of top 14-5/8 in. (37.1 cm)
Classification:
Woodwork
Credit Line:
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1976
Accession Number:
1976.155.106

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 546

120022570

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