David Roentgen
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David Roentgen (1743 in
Herrnhaag Herrnhaag (Lord's Grove) was a communal spiritual centre for the Moravian Church, Moravian Unity, an early form of Protestantism. It and Marienborn, a nearby sister community, are located in the Wetterau, an area of Hesse, north of Frankfurt am Ma ...
February 12, 1807), was a famous
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
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 (s ...
of the eighteenth century, famed throughout Europe for his
marquetry Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furn ...
and his secret drawers and poes and mechanical fittings. His work embraces the late
Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
and the Neoclassical styles.


Chronology

In 1753 his father
Abraham Roentgen Abraham Roentgen (30 January 1711 – 1 March 1793) was a German Ébéniste (cabinetmaker). Roentgen was born in Mülheim am Rhein, Germany. He learned cabinet making from his father. At age 20, he traveled to The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, ...
, who had trained in London in the workshop of William Gomm, 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
Coblenz 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 name ...
, where he established a furniture factory. David learned his trade in his father's workshop, inherited the paternal business in 1772, and entered into partnership with the clockmaker Kintzing. By that time, the name of the firm was well known, even in France. Oddly he is remembered in France as one of the foreign cabinetmakers and workers in marquetry who, like
Jean-François Oeben Jean-François Oeben, or Johann Franz Oeben (9 October 1721 Heinsberg near Aachen – Paris 21 January 1763) was a German ébéniste (cabinetmaker) whose career was spent in Paris. He was the maternal grandfather of the painter Eugène Delacroix. ...
and
Jean Henri Riesener Jean-Henri Riesener (german: Johann Heinrich Riesener; 4 July 1734 – 6 January 1806) was a famous German ''ébéniste'' (cabinetmaker), working in Paris, whose work exemplified the early neoclassical "Louis XVI style". Life and career Riesene ...
, achieved distinction during the closing years of the
Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...
. Since
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
was the style center of Europe, he opened a show-room, but his furniture was made in Neuwied. The engraver Willerters recorded his appearance in Paris, initially on August 30, 1774, that ' 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 ''Pietra dura'' () or ''pietre dure'' () ( see below), called parchin kari or parchinkari ( fa, ) in the Indian Subcontinent, is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images. It is c ...
. His great rivals admitted him to their exclusive guild. He appears to have curried considerable favor with the queen,
Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
, 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 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
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 Peter Kinzing (1745–1816) was a noted German Mennonite clockmaker. Kinzing was born in Neuwied, Germany, and is supposed to have made his first pendulum clock at the age of ten. He began work with the German ''ébéniste'' David Roentgen circa ...
), topped by a cupola representing Parnassus, party peak. The interior of this monumental effort, 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
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. On one of his visits to
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, he sold to the
Empress Catherine , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
furniture invoiced at 20,000 roubles. She added 5000 roubles and a personal present, a gold snuff-box, for quick fulfillment of an unexpected request. When news arrived of the Russian navy's victory over the Turks at Cheshme, DR ingeniously mounted a clock commemorating the date and time onto the Czarina's personal secretaire desk. This suite of furniture is believed to be in the Palace of the Hermitage, with vaults of so much remarkable art uncatalogued outside Russia. To the protection of the queen of France and the empress of Russia, David added the king in Prussia, Frederick William II, who in 1792 made him a Commerzienrat, commercial agent for the Lower Rhine district. The
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
and the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
eclipsed Roentgen's star as many other great cabinetmakers of the period. In 1793 the Revolutionary government, declaring him an émigré, seized the contents of his showrooms, inventory and personal belongings. After that, he did no further business in Paris. Five years later, the French invasion of Germany, Prussia and Austria led to the closing of his factory in Neuwied. He died half ruined at Wiesbaden on 12 February 1807. The most complete collection of his work in private hands remains that of the ducal house of
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-d ...
, exhibited at
Callenberg Castle Callenberg Castle (''Schloss Callenberg'') is a castle on a wooded hill in Beiersdorf, an ''Ortsteil'' of Coburg, from the town centre. It was a hunting lodge and summer residence and has long been the principal residence of the House of Saxe-Cob ...
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. Was this table the earliest form of flatpack? A team from the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
investigated further and confirmed Koepp's process and conclusions in March 2014, shedding new light on the inventor of flat-pack /
ready-to-assemble furniture Ready-to-assemble furniture (RTA), also known as knock-down furniture (KD), flat pack furniture, or kit furniture, is a form of furniture that requires customer assembly. The separate components are packed for sale in cartons which also contain ...
. Until then, Gillis Lundgren held that title from 1951 for IKEA. Its blame has now been traced back 200 years before the pretender. David Roentgen not only mastered intrigue but flat-pack home assembly without an allen key.


Assessment

According to his biography in the
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. So ...
of 1911, Roentgen was not a great cabinetmaker: "His forms were often clumsy, ungraceful, and commonplace; his furniture lacked the artistry of the French and the English cabinetmakers of the great period which came to an end about 1790. His bronzes were poor in design and coarse in execution; his work, in short, is tainted by commercialism. As an inlayer, however, he holds a position of high distinction. His marquetry is bolder and more vigorous than that of Riesener, who in other respects soared far above him. As an adroit devisor of mechanism he fully earned a reputation which former generations rated more highly than the modern critic, with his facilities for comparison, is prepared to accept. On the mechanical side he produced, with the help of Kintzing, many long-cased and other clocks with ingenious indicating and registering apparatus. Roentgen delighted in architectural forms, and his marquetry more often than not represents those scenes from classical mythology which were the dear delight of the 18th century." He is well represented at the
V&A Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
in London, and other collections.


See also

*
Louis XVI furniture Louis XVI furniture is characterized by elegance and neoclassicism, a return to ancient Greek and Roman models. Much of it was designed and made for Queen Marie Antoinette for the new apartments she created in the Palace of Versailles, Palace ...
*
Louis XVI style Louis XVI style, also called ''Louis Seize'', is a style of architecture, furniture, decoration and art which developed in France during the 19-year reign of Louis XVI (1774–1793), just before the French Revolution. It saw the final phase of t ...


References

* *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. *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. *Kreismuseum Neuwied: Kinzing & Co. Innovative Uhren aus der Provinz. 2003.


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
Explore , David Roentgen , Flat-Pack

Flatpacked! , V&A
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rontgen, David German furniture designers German furniture makers 1743 births 1807 deaths