The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

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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Wave bowl

Linthorpe Pottery Works (1879–1882)

Designer:: Design attributed to Christopher Dresser (British, Glasgow, Scotland 1834–1904 Mulhouse)
Date:: ca. 1880
Culture:: British, Yorkshire
Medium:: Glazed earthenware
Dimensions:: Overall: 7 x 7 x 4 1/2 in. (17.8 x 17.8 x 11.4 cm)
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: Purchase, James David Draper Gift, in memory of Robert Isaacson, 2001
Accession Number:: 2001.549

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 556

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The Roentgens' Dressing Table (Poudreuse)

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