The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art Object

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation

The inventive talents of David Roentgen are evident in this exceptionally refined desk. The monogram "DR" inlaid beneath the keyhole on the lower drawer indicates the cabinetmaker's satisfaction with one of his most mechanically ingenuous creations: a single key inserted at different depths unlocks the center drawer, releases the rolltop, or releases the hidden side drawers; if a button is pressed on the underside of these drawers, each swings aside to reveal three other drawers. Above the rolltop, the rectangular structure consists of a single wide drawer. The artist's creativity is evident in the chinoiserie marquetry scenes, created by using minute pieces of naturally colored exotic woods that have a painterly effect.

See Collections to learn more about this desk.

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

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Vase soliflore

Jean-Joseph Carriès (French, 1855–1894)

Date:: ca. 1889–94
Culture:: French (Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye)
Medium:: Glazed stoneware
Dimensions:: H. 28 cm
Classification:: Ceramics
Credit Line:: The Charles E. Sampson Memorial Fund, 2006
Accession Number:: 2006.83

This artwork is not on display

Description

Much of Carriès's work reflects the influence of Japanese stoneware, evident in this vase in the use of a traditional Japanese bottle form and in the randomly applied glaze, which has been allowed to drip down the sides to create an abstract design.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: [1] signed in the clay on the reverse of base: Jean Carriès, with the number 4 below
Provenance

[ sale, Sotheby's, Paris , December 16, 2005, lot 62 ]
See also
Who
Jean-Joseph Carriès (2)
What
Ceramics (29,327)

Vessels (21,925)

Pottery (12,857)

Vases (8,895)

Glazing (3,102)

Stoneware (1,408)
Where
Europe (150,115)

France (49,363)

Burgundy (718)

Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye (3)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,264)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
France, 1800–1900 A.D.

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Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation

Vase soliflore

Jean-Joseph Carriès (French, 1855–1894)

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Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation

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Vase soliflore

Jean-Joseph Carriès (French, 1855–1894)

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Met Kids

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