David Roentgen
David Roentgen
Chronology
In 1753 his father
Roentgen was first and foremost an astute man of business. His outlet did not prosper as expected. The powerful trade corporation of the maîtres ébénistes disputed his right to sell in Paris furniture of foreign manufacture. In 1780 he resolved this restriction by inventing new style of marquetry, which attracted a good deal of attention. Instead of representing light and shade by burning, smoking or engraving the pieces of veneer, DR arranged intricate patterns of wood inlay to create the impression of pietra dura. His great rivals admitted him to their exclusive guild.
He appears to have curried considerable favor with the queen, Marie Antoinette, whose first language was also German. On several of his journeys throughout Europe, she charged him to deliver her presents and dolls dressed in the latest Paris fashions. They were intended to serve as patterns for the dressmakers to her mother and her sisters.
Because of his proficiency in constructing furniture with amusing mechanical features, the queen appointed Roentgen ébéniste-mechanicien. Popular in the late eighteenth century, ladies' dressing tables were designed to appear as a desk, drawing table or other less personal furniture, to conceal toiletries. A spring trigger, hidden catch or button revealed its dual purpose.
David mastered this style, dubbed Harlequin after the theatrical character, whatever the reference to archetype implied. His mechanical inventiveness outshone more accomplished cabinetry. The extent of his fame is shown by Goethe mention of him in Wilhelm Meister. The box inhabited by the fairy during her travels with her mortal lover is compared to Roentgen's desk in which a single pull released many springs, latches, hidden drawers, secret compartments and mechanical devices. Before he lost his head, Louis XVI paid him 80,000 livres for such a desk. Outwardly it looked like a commode. Marquetry panels showed Minerva, Roman goddess of arts, hanging the portrait of Marie Antoinette on a column engraved with her name. Above the riot of architectural details was a musical clock (the work of the partner Peter Kinzing), topped by a cupola representing Parnassus, party peak. The interior of this monumental effort, 11 ft (3.4 m) high, was a marvel of mechanical precision. It disappeared during the First Empire under Napoleon.
Roentgen did not confine his attentions to Paris, or even to France. He traveled about Europe accompanied by furniture vans of his factory's products. Undoubtedly his aptitude as a commercial traveler was remarkable. He had shops in
The most complete collection of his work in private hands remains that of the ducal house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, exhibited at Callenberg Castle in Coburg, north Bavaria. In 2012 Wolfam Koepp of the Metropolitan Museum of Art discovered a particular type of Roentgen table with removable legs for easier transport.[2]
Assessment
According to his biography in the
See also
References
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Röntgen, David". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 693–694. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ In the eighteenth century sometimes called David De Lunéville
- ^ "Flatpacked! • V&A Blog". 25 March 2014.
- ^ Chisholm 1911.
- Manuel Mayer, 2018. Die Verwirklichung eines Möbels. Der Schreibsekretär von Abraham Roentgen in der Residenz zu Würzburg., in: Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Geschichte und Kunst, Bd. 70, Archiv des Historischen Vereins für Unterfranken und Aschaffenburg, Bd. 141, Würzburg 2018, p. 239-259. ISBN 978-3-88778-555-0
- Hans Huth, 1974. Roentgen furniture: Abraham and David Roentgen, European cabinet-makers
- Dietrich Fabian, 1992. Abraham und David Roentgen: Von der Schreinerwerkstatt zur Kunstmöbel-Manufaktur
- Josef Maria Greber, 1980. Abraham und David Roentgen: Möbel für Europa : Werdegang, Kunst und Technik einer deutschen Kabinett-Manufaktur
- Rosemarie Stratmann-Döhler, 1998. Mechanische Wunder, edles Holz: Roentgen-Möbel des 18. Jahrhunderts in Baden und Württemberg
- Fabin, Dietrich. Kinzing und Roentgen Uhren aus Neuwied. 1984. ISBN 3-922923-28-3
- Kreismuseum Neuwied: Kinzing & Co. Innovative Uhren aus der Provinz. 2003. ISBN 3-00-012149-8
External links
- Koeppe, Wolfram. "Abraham and David Roentgen". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. (June 2013)
- David Roentgen Papers collection from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
- Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens, exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
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