The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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Picture frame

Attributed to Juste Aurèle Meissonnier (French, Turin 1695–1750 Paris)

Date:: ca. 1735
Culture:: French
Medium:: Carved and gilded beechwood
Dimensions:: 130 x 90 in. (330.2 x 228.6 cm) H. of opening 98-1/2 in. (250.2 cm); W. of opening 69 in. (175.3 cm)
Classification:: Woodwork
Credit Line:: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1971
Accession Number:: 1971.206.34

This artwork is not on display

Provenance

Hope (until 1916; sale, Christie's, London, July 20, 1916, no. 63; to Buck); Buck (1916–after 1931; sale, Christies', London, July 20, 1916, no. 63); [ Christie's, London (in 1962; sale, Christie's, London, May 18, 1962, no. 176) ] ; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman (until 1971; to MMA)
See also
Who
Juste Aurèle Meissonnier (30)
What
Gilt (9,043)

Wood (7,651)

Furniture (5,725)

Woodwork (2,582)

Frames (996)

Beech (219)
Where
Europe (148,586)

France (52,276)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,179)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
France, 1600–1800 A.D.
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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

Picture frame

Attributed to Juste Aurèle Meissonnier (French, Turin 1695–1750 Paris)

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Demonstration of the Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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Picture frame

Attributed to Juste Aurèle Meissonnier (French, Turin 1695–1750 Paris)

Met Media

Met Kids

Met Store