The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Sugar bowl (part of a service)

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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Sugar bowl (part of a service)

Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)

Designer:: Léon Kann (French, active 1896–ca. 1915, active at Sèvres 1896–98 and 1900–1908)
Date:: 1904
Culture:: French (Sèvres)
Medium:: Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions:: H. 4 3/16 in. (10.6 cm.)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Gift of Diane R. Wolf, 1988
Accession Number:: 1988.287.3a, b

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 556

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

Sugar bowl (part of a service)

Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Sugar bowl (part of a service)

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