The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Peacock with tail down

Art Object

Demonstration of David Roentgen's Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player

Watch a demonstration of Queen Marie Antoinette's Automaton playing one of eight melodies it can perform.

David Roentgen (1743–1807) took his royal patron by surprise when he delivered this beautiful automaton to King Louis XVI for his queen, Marie Antoinette, in 1784. The cabinetry for this piece is very much a neoclassical masterwork, and the mechanism behind it is truly extraordinary: the figure strikes the strings in perfect rhythm with two small metal hammers held in her hands, which move with great precision.

This object, from the Musée des arts et métiers de Paris, is featured in the exhibition Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens (on view October 30, 2012–January 27, 2013).

View a full documentary featuring this object: http://www.cerimes.fr/le-catalogue/la-joueuse-de-tympanon.html

Footage courtesy of CERIMES.

Video/Audio (4)

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) 16640 views

Rolltop Desk by David Roentgen: Animation
(00:01:00) 3015 views

Peacock with tail down

Date:: 1787
Culture:: Hungarian (Munkács)
Medium:: Silver, parcel-gilt
Dimensions:: Overall: 7 3/16 x 12 in. (18.3 x 30.5 cm)
Classification:: Metalwork
Credit Line:: Gift of The Salgo Trust for Education, New York, in memory of Nicolas M. Salgo, 2010
Accession Number:: 2010.110.63a, b

This artwork is not on display

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Marking: Struck on the plain rim of the base: 1] the town mark of Munkács, 2] the import mark and 3] standard mark.
Provenance

Lord Walston ; Paul Wallraf ; [ sale, Sotheby's, London December 8, 1983, lot 91; to Salgo ] ; Nicolas M. Salgo (from 1983) ; Salgo Trust for Education (until 2010; to MMA)
See also
What
Metal (59,364)

Metalwork (14,716)

Silver (14,056)

Gilt (9,043)

Figures (5,008)
Where
Europe (148,586)

Hungary (482)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (66,179)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,257)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Central Europe (including Germany), 1600–1800 A.D.