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Rolltop Desk (Detail - the interior of the desk)

David Roentgen, Pierre Gouthière

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States

Made in the Neoclassical style, this monumental rolltop desk is fitted with numerous complicated mechanical devices, the specialty of David Roentgen's workshop. When the writing surface is pulled out, a mechanism automatically withdraws the solid rolltop back into the carcass, displaying the drawers and pigeon holes inside the desk. Behind the large gilt bronze plaque in the middle of the top is a contraption of many parts that moves out and opens at the turn of a key. It contains a folding reading and writing stand with compartments that hold an inkwell and sand pot for use by a person standing at the closed desk.

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  • Title: Rolltop Desk (Detail - the interior of the desk)
  • Creator: David Roentgen, Pierre Gouthière, François Rémond
  • Date Created: 1787–1788
  • Location Created: Neuwied, Germany
  • Physical Dimensions: 168.3 × 155.9 × 89.3 cm, 347.0017 kg (66 1/4 × 61 3/8 × 35 3/16 in., 765 lb.)
  • Type: Furniture
  • External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
  • Medium: Oak, fir, and Scots pine veneered with mahogany and maple burl; gilt-bronze mounts; steel fittings
  • Terms of Use: Open Content
  • Number: 72.DA.47
  • Culture: German
  • Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
  • Creator Display Name: Attributed to David Roentgen (German, 1743 - 1807, master 1780) Gilt-bronze plaque attributed to Pierre Gouthière (French, 1732 - 1813/1814, master 1758) Mounts by François Rémond (French, 1747 - 1812, master 1774)
  • Classification: Decorative Art (Art Genre)
The J. Paul Getty Museum

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