"Elegant furniture incorporating intriguing mechanical devices was a
trademark of the Roentgen workshop, which from 1768 until about 1793 was
one of Europe's most successful cabinetmaking enterprises. The
distinguished design and the innovative way prefabricated elements such
as the detachable legs were assembled make this table an example par
excellence of David Roentgen's ingenious creations. His objects are an
amalgamation of superior technical skills, sophisticated looks, high
quality materials, and multiple functions. Roentgen's patrons sought
adaptable furnishings that could perform manifold tasks. This piece is a
console, a desk for writing and reading, and a game table for cards and
chess with a concealed spring-driven backgammon box. Yet when closed it
took up only a small amount of space in the intimate interiors popular
during the Age of Enlightenment. A set of eighteenth-century game pieces
- twenty-nine stamped wooden medallions illustrating European monarchs
and historical views - are associated with the table. "
From the collections of the
Metropolitan Museum.
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