The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

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

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.

David Roentgen: Long-Case Clock
(00:00:52)

The Roentgens' Berlin Secretary Cabinet
(00:02:20) 10702 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Demonstration
(00:02:17) 16956 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3033 views

Roland

Colin Nouailher (French, active 1539, d. after 1571)

Date:: ca. 1541
Culture:: French, Limoges
Medium:: Enamel, painted and partly gilded on copper
Dimensions:: Diam. 8-3/4 in. (22.3 cm)
Classification:: Enamels
Credit Line:: Purchase, John H. and Susan Gutfreund Gift, 1993
Accession Number:: 1993.65.3

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 544

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: (in gilt, along the top edge): ROVLAN•/SV•/IS•
Provenance

Baron Meyer de Rothschild ; Hannah de Rothschild ; Earls of Rosebery (until 1977) ; [ sale, Sotheby's, New York , 1977 ] ; Private Collection, Lille, France ; [ Alain Moatti (until 1993; sold to MMA) ]
See also
Who
Colin Nouailher (6)
What
Metal (59,619)

Gilt (9,068)

Copper (6,267)

Painting (5,232)

Enamels (3,250)

Medals (3,075)

Enamel (1,663)

Medallions (828)
Where
Europe (150,115)

France (49,363)

Limousin (306)

Limoges (290)
When
A.D. 1400-1600 (20,612)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,264)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
France, 1400–1600 A.D.

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

Roland

Colin Nouailher (French, active 1539, d. after 1571)

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

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Roland

Colin Nouailher (French, active 1539, d. after 1571)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store