Abraham Roentgen (30 January 1711 – 1 March 1793) was a German
Ébéniste
''Ébéniste'' () is a loanword (from French) for a cabinet-maker, particularly one who works in ebony.
Etymology and ambiguities
As opposed to ''ébéniste'', the term ''menuisier'' denotes a woodcarver or chairmaker in French. The English equ ...
(
cabinetmaker
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (so ...
).
Roentgen was born in
MĂĽlheim am Rhein
MĂĽlheim, officially MĂĽlheim an der Ruhr () and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home to many compan ...
, Germany. He learned
cabinet making from his father. At age 20, he traveled to
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...
,
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
and
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, learning from established cabinet makers.
He became known for his
marquetry work, and worked in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
(in the workshop of William Gomm) until 1738. On 18 April 1739, he married Susanne Marie Bausch from
Herrnhut
Herrnhut ( Sorbian: ''Ochranow''; cs, Ochranov) is an Upper Lusatian town in the Görlitz district in Saxony, Germany, known for the community of the Moravian Church established by Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf in 1722.
Geography
It is ...
. His son,
David Roentgen, was born on 11 August 1743.
In 1753 they migrated to the Moravian settlement at
Neuwied
Neuwied () is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the east bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to Cologne. Th ...
, near
Koblenz
Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its na ...
, where he established a furniture manufactory.
Upon his retirement in 1772 his son David took over the business and established his own reputation.
Abraham Roentgen died in Herrnhut in Saxony Germany in 1793.
Literature
** Manuel Mayer: ''Die Verwirklichung eines Möbels. Der Schreibsekretär von Abraham Roentgen in der Residenz zu Würzburg'', in: ''Mainfränkisches Jahrbuch für Kunst und Geschichte'', Bd. 70, Archiv des Historischen Vereins für Unterfranken und Aschaffenburg, Bd. 141, Würzburg 2018, , S. 239-259.
** Wolfram Koeppe (Hg.): Extravagant Inventions. The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens, Exhibition catalogue, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2012.
** Heinrich Kreisel: ''Möbel von Abraham Roentgen'', in: ''Wohnkunst und Hausrat, einst und jetzt'', Bd. 5, Darmstadt, o. J.
** Claus Bernet: ''Abraham Roentgen.'' In: ''Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon'' (BBKL). Band 29, Bautz, Nordhausen 2008, , Sp. 1177–1181.
** Andreas Büttner, Ursula Weber-Woelk, Bernd Willscheid (Hg.): ''Edle Möbel für höchste Kreise - Roentgens Meisterwerke für Europas Höfe''. Katalog des Roentgen-Museums Neuwied, Neuwied 2007, .
** Andreas Büttner: ''Roentgen. Möbelkunst der Extraklasse,'' hrsg. von der Stadt Neuwied. Kehrein, Neuwied 2007, .
** Melanie Doderer-Winkler: ''Abraham und David Roentgen (1711–1793; 1743–1807),'' in: ''Rheinische Lebensbilder,'' Bd. 17, hrsg. von Franz-Josef Heyen, Köln 1997, S. 57–78.
** Dietrich Fabian: ''Abraham und David Roentgen. Von der Schreinerwerkstatt zur Kunstmöbel-Manufaktur,'' Pfaehler, Bad Neustadt an der Saale 1992, .
** Detlev Richter, Bernd Willscheid: ''Reinheit, Feuer & Glanz - Stobwasser und Roentgen. Kunsthandwerk von Weltrang,'' Katalog des Roentgen-Museums Neuwied, Neuwied 2013, .
** Peter Prange: ''Roentgen, Abraham.'' In: ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (NDB). Band 21, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, , S. 730 f. (Digitalisat).
** Wolfgang Thillmann, Bernd Willscheid (Hg.): ''Möbeldesign - Roentgen, Thonet und die Moderne,'' Katalog des Roentgen-Museums Neuwied, Neuwied 2011, .
External links
Koeppe, Wolfram. "Abraham and David Roentgen". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. (June 2013)
Biography at the Getty museum*
German furniture makers
1711 births
1793 deaths
Businesspeople from Cologne
{{Germany-engineer-stub