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) 10523 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16384 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3001 views

Hot milk jug

James Ker

Date:: 1727–28
Culture:: Scottish (Edinburgh)
Medium:: Silver
Dimensions:: H. 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm)
Classification:: Metalwork
Credit Line:: Purchase, Gift of Irwin Untermyer, by exchange, 1983
Accession Number:: 1983.224

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: (In script): AS; "BREADALBANE" (both on underside of foot ring)

Marking: [1] EP in shaped punch (mark of assay master Edward Penman); [2] X in square (date letter for 1727-28); [3] IK in shaped punch; [4] another; partial strike (three-towered castle, Edinburgh town mark) Location of marks: [1]-[4] on underside of body, inside foot ring.
Provenance

Marquess of Breadalbane ; Major Ian Shaw of Tordarroch, M.B.A. (until 1983; sale, Christie's and Edminston's, Glasgow, March 29 , 1983, no. 87)
See also
Who
James Ker (1)
What
Metal (59,364)

Vessels (21,921)

Metalwork (14,716)

Silver (14,056)

Jugs (1,683)

Milk jugs (75)
Where
Europe (148,587)

United Kingdom (25,557)

Scottish (1,835)

Edinburgh (22)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,179)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Great Britain and Ireland, 1600–1800 A.D.

WHAT IS MYMET?

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

Hot milk jug

James Ker

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store

WHAT IS MYMET?

Already have a mymet account? Sign in

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

Related Content

Hot milk jug

James Ker

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store