Oval table 1769 - 1779

This oval table was made by David Roentgen, a German cabinet maker renowned throughout Europe for his innovative designs. The table is made from different kinds of wood and metal. Roentgen operated at the end of the 18th Century, on the cusp of the modern era when designers and makers were trying to negotiate the transition from the aristocratic Baroque to the Neoclassical style favored by the middle classes. The result was a more accessible, restrained version of luxury. Aristocrats continued to buy furniture like this, but increasingly, so did bankers and merchants. The table represents an interesting moment in furniture production, when workshops started to function more like factories. Roentgen had a large workshop in Germany, where he employed craftsmen, but he also traveled widely to sell his products. To properly understand the art of the era, we need to use archival sources such as trade ledgers, design patterns, and travel journals to analyze the social conditions and the history of the institutions that shaped its production.