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) 10632 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16720 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3016 views

Ewer

Date:: early 18th century
Culture:: Chinese
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain, silver
Dimensions:: Gr. H. 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Purchase, Anonymous Gift, by exchange, 1988
Accession Number:: 1988.84.46

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: (on obverse of medal) AVGVTA.VIN DE LIGORVUM/MDCXXVI; (on reverse of medal) CAES:FERD.II.P.F.GER.HVN:BOH:REX.IMP (Ferdinand II, King of Bohemia and Hungary, 1578-1637, r. 1619-37)

Marking: [1] F. (in underglaze blue, on underside of ewer) [2] Amsterdam town mark (on silver mounts) [3] illegible (on silver mount)
See also
What
Metal (59,364)

Ceramics (29,320)

Clay (23,649)

Vessels (21,921)

Silver (14,056)

Faience (11,698)

Porcelain (11,369)

Hard paste porcelain (2,917)

Ewers (562)
Where
Asia (68,071)

China (17,417)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,179)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
China, 1600–1800 A.D.

Central and North Asia, 1600–1800 A.D.