Exhibit: Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture Of the Roentgens
Furniture scholars, celebrate! This is one exhibit worth the trek to New York to see. I'll be the first to admit, though, that I came across this one by accident as I wandered through the Met (Side note: I kind of feel like wandering through the Met is the best way to see it... discovering such fantastic exhibits makes them that much more exciting!).
I for one was not familiar with the Roentgen's work, mostly because my undergraduate years were spent focusing on countries or time period history, not on the decorative arts. I have very limited knowledge of furniture history, but despite this, was completely blown away by the Roentgen's work.
Abraham Roentgen and his son David were commissioned by royalty (Marie Antoinette was a repeat customer) and high playing papal powers many times throughout their career, and for good reason. The father-son duo worked out for their shop in Frankfurt, Germany from 1742 to the early 1800s, creating furniture unlike any that had come before it.
The above writing desk was made for Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp von Walderdorf and could be transformed in to a prayer station for the Prince simply by pulling down a hidden panel. Contrary to this, the desk, in its entirety, could be closed up in a contained, modest manner.
Automaton of Queen Marie Antoinette, The Dulcimer Player (video and explanation here) / Photo credit: scoop.it
These are not merely beautiful examples of furniture; the Roentgen's desks are works of art and spectacular examples of revolutionary technology. Enjoy the snippet below briefly highlighting the exhibit! I was excited to find that so many videos existed through the Met online and Youtube, detailing the inner workings of the furniture. Just talking about them does not do the pieces justice.
The exhibit itself I found to be overwhelming... but in a good way. It winds on for several rooms, with many nooks, and lots of space to carefully examine each object on its own. The seeming immensity of it, to me, seemed appropriate considering the impressive subject matter. The fact that so many pieces still exist and that they still appeared so vibrant, was breathtaking to comprehend. Curator Wolfram Koeppe did not neglect the fact that seeing the furniture in motion was crucial to the overall experience, installing several video stations where one could watch the pieces come to life. This was crucial especially in the exhibition of the automaton of Marie Antoinette; what fun is a gorgeous music box without hearing the music? On a stylistic note, the royal blue chosen for the exhibit walls was divine, and greatly complimented the rich colors of the wood.
Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture Of the Roentgens runs through January 27, 2013.
Comments
Post a Comment