The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Bacchic group: satyr and bacchante with infant satyr

Art Object

Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

See how this desk converts into a dressing table.

When closed, this table may not seem like one of the most complex pieces of European furniture ever made. However, once opened, its concealed drawers and hidden features are exposed, and the entire piece transforms into a dressing table, orpoudreuse. Scholars believe it was commissioned as a wedding gift from Abraham (1711–1793) and David Roentgen (1743–1807) by Friedrich August III, Elector of Saxony, to his bride in 1769.

This table, from Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt, is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).

Images courtesy of Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt.

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Bacchic group: satyr and bacchante with infant satyr

Clodion (Claude Michel) (French, Nancy 1738–1814 Paris)

Date:: late 18th century
Culture:: French
Medium:: Terracotta
Dimensions:: H. 23 in. (58.4 cm.) W. (base) 10-3/4 in. (27.3 cm); D. (base) 9 in. (22.9 cm)
Classification:: Sculpture
Credit Line:: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1983
Accession Number:: 1983.185.4

This artwork is not on display

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

Bacchic group: satyr and bacchante with infant satyr

Clodion (Claude Michel) (French, Nancy 1738–1814 Paris)

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Bacchic group: satyr and bacchante with infant satyr

Clodion (Claude Michel) (French, Nancy 1738–1814 Paris)

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