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Rolltop desk

Designer Drawer pulls after a design by Thomas Chippendale British
Designer Marquetry panel after a design by Januarius Zick German
ca. 1776–79
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 553
This rolltop desk demonstrates the inventive talent of its maker, distinguished by six legs instead of the usual four. The chinoiserie marquetry scenes have a painterly effect that Roentgen alone attained, using minute pieces of naturally colored exotic woods. His mechanical ingenuity is exemplified by the workings of the lower section of the desk: when the key of the lower drawer is turned to the right, the side drawers spring open; if a button is pressed on the underside of these drawers, each swings aside to reveal three other drawers. The monogram DR, inlaid on the drawer below the keyhole, indicates the cabinetmaker's satisfaction, as his work is rarely signed. The turn of the key commands which side opens. The interior is decorated in the restrained French Neoclassical style with mahogany and gilded mounts. The outside was once colorful, as the Chinoiserie marquetry is set into maple panels, perhaps stained gray, evoking a silky fabric popular in the late 1770s. Like a theater scrim, it would have set off the scenes of Chinese life. Although Roentgen maintained his workshop at Neuwied, Germany, where this desk was made between 1776 and 1778, his French clientele became so important that he opened an outlet in Paris and joined the Parisian guild in 1780.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Rolltop desk
  • Maker: David Roentgen (German, Herrnhaag 1743–1807 Wiesbaden, master 1780)
  • Designer: Drawer pulls after a design by Thomas Chippendale (British, baptised Otley, West Yorkshire 1718–1779 London)
  • Designer: Marquetry panel after a design by Januarius Zick (German, Munich before 1730–1797 Ehrenbreitstein)
  • Date: ca. 1776–79
  • Culture: German, Neuwied am Rhein
  • Medium: Oak, cherry, pine, mahogany, veneered with maple, burl woods, holly, hornbeam (all partially stained), tulipwood, mahogany, and other woods; mother-of-pearl; partially gilded and tooled leather; gilt bronze, iron, steel, brass, partially gold-lacquered brass
  • Dimensions: 53 1/2 x 43 1/2 x 26 1/2 in. (135.9 x 110.5 x 67.3 cm.)
  • Classification: Woodwork-Furniture
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1941
  • Object Number: 41.82
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Commode à vantaux, David Roentgen German, Oak, pine, walnut, mahogany, and cherry veneered with hornbeam (partially stained), tulipwood, walnut, holly and maple (both partially stained), boxwood, mahogany, and other woods; red brocatelle marble; gilt bronze; iron, steel, and brass, German, Neuwied am Rhein
Commode à vantaux
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1775–79 with later alterations
Oval table, David Roentgen German, Oak, walnut, pine, cherry, and maple, veneered with maple, hornbeam, holly (all partially stained), cherry, mahogany, tulipwood, and other woods; gilt bronze, iron, brass, steel; partially tooled and gilded leather, German, Neuwied am Rhein
Oval table
David Roentgen
ca. 1774–80
Game table, David Roentgen German, Oak and walnut, veneered with mahogany, maple, holly (the last two partially stained); iron, steel, brass, gilt bronze; felt and partially tooled and gilded leather, German, Neuwied am Rhine
Game table
David Roentgen
ca. 1780–83
Writing table, David Roentgen German, Mahogany, gilt bronze, German, Neuwied am Rhein
Writing table
David Roentgen
ca. 1790
Dressing table, David Roentgen German, Harewood and marquetry woods, German, Neuwied am Rhein
Dressing table
David Roentgen
ca. 1775

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