The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

Unfolding an Eighteenth-Century Gaming Table

This finely crafted piece of furniture has a secret. Swing out a leg, adjust an arm, and voilà! Leaves unfold to reveal multiple configurations: a felt surface for card games, a game board for chess or checkers, a desk with a leather writing surface and book rest. Tug at a hidden latch, and a spring-driven backgammon board pops up.

The brainchild of German cabinetmaker David Roentgen (1743–1807), this sophisticated gaming table once graced the intimate interior of an aristocratic European home. The exquisite piece was not only convenient for entertaining guests, but it was also portable—its legs unscrew so it can easily be packed and moved.

This 3-D animation of the table demonstrates its different configurations and illuminates its concealed features, including drawers for tucking away personal items and compartments for storing game pieces.

See Collections to learn more about this table.

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

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

Cup and saucer

Royal Porcelain Manufactory, Berlin

Date:: ca. 1828
Culture:: German (Berlin)
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions:: Cup (.1): Gr. H. 4-3/4 in. (12.1 cm.); Saucer (.2): Diam. 5-3/4 in. (14.6 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Rogers Fund, 1994
Accession Number:: 1994.330.1,2

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: [1] Wandle hymen, Euch hold, diese Silber in Gold (on cup) [2] 20 September 1803 / 20 September 1828 / Luise Goldhugen / geb. Ziegler. (on saucer)

Marking: [1] Scepter (in underglaze blue, on bottom of each) [2] Imperial eagle above K.P.M. (stamped in red-brown, on bottom of each) [3] 20 (impressed on bottom of saucer) [4] M (impressed on bottom of saucer)
See also
Who
Royal Porcelain Manufactory, Berlin (55)
What
Ceramics (29,320)

Clay (23,649)

Faience (11,698)

Porcelain (11,369)

Dishes (6,707)

Drinking vessels (6,032)

Cups (3,861)

Plates (3,598)

Hard paste porcelain (2,917)

Saucers (1,314)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Germany (15,865)

Berlin (108)
When
A.D. 1800-1900 (80,185)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Central Europe and Low Countries, 1800–1900 A.D.

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Unfolding an Eighteenth-Century Gaming Table

Cup and saucer

Royal Porcelain Manufactory, Berlin

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Unfolding an Eighteenth-Century Gaming Table

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Cup and saucer

Royal Porcelain Manufactory, Berlin

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store