Eguia 1
Michelle Eguia
Professor Ptak
Objects as History
16 December 2013
Mechanical Table
Mimi Hellman once said, “The practice of consumption was visual and kinetic; objects
were not simply owned but indeed performed” (Hellman 417). This mechanical table was built
and designed from 1761-1763 by Jean Francois Oeben and finished by his brother-in-law, Roger
Vandercruse Lacroix (MET). It was constructed in France and consists of oak veneered with
mahogany, kingwood, tulipwood with marquetry of mahogany, rosewood, holly, gilt-bronze
mounts; imitation Japanese lacquer; and replaced silk (MET). It was made for Madame de
Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV, and is now featured at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York City. Simply, this beautiful mechanical table significantly represents its owner in
comparison to furniture constructed today, was designed to be a decoration amongst a room,
and was skillfully crafted as a useful, functional dressing table.
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Complementing Madame Pompadour, this table reveals beautiful detailing carved by
hand that shows how significant this mistress was to the king. The marquetry at the top of the
table displays Madame Pompadour’s coat of arms and was designed to show her interests in
the arts; she particularly loved architecture, music, painting, and gardening. The table exhibits
her love of the arts as “a vase of flowers as well as trophies” (Rieder 227). This piece of
furniture articulates King Louis XV’s mistress and revolves around her very personality.
Additionally, the representational value behind the table signifies Madame Pompadour as an
important figure to the king. The table remains as a permanent historical representation of
Madame Pompadour. The time put into this table by Oeben proves every detail was of
importance. Using the natural browns of the wood and other vivid colors further differentiates
this table from others allowing her love of gardening to speak for itself through the flowers that
cover the sides and top of this piece of furniture. This table comes to represent Madame
Pompadour through her love of the arts, and undoubtedly, the representational value behind
this piece of furniture expresses significant meaning and fully embodies not only Madame
Pompadour’s personality but also how important King Louis XV portrayed his mistress .
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In comparison to contemporary furniture, tables, chairs, and rooms today do not
portray one’s own personality or values and beliefs in the furniture’s actual makeup. Today,
rooms are filled with space, simplicity, and purpose kept in mind. That is not to say one’s room
does not display one’s own character and raw identity, it is that one’s furniture does not have
symbols and character traits that one exhibits carved or painted among the essence of the
furniture’s makeup. The very essence of Madame Pompadour’s personality was painted and
hand carved into every inch of this mechanical dressing table. The visual and physical makeup
of furniture has changed over the decades. With the difference of having furniture represent a
family or individual, tables today solely carry more of a functional as well as decorative purpose
to a room.
During the 18th century, furniture not only decorated a house, but it decorated the
family or individual who lived there and set the mood of the lifestyle the host had. Furniture
established a family in the hierarchy of society, and each detail proved the significance of one’s
position among others. Amounting to 27 ½ inches tall, 32 ½ inches wide, and 18 3/8 inches in
depth, this piece consists of five different pieces of wood and was crafted with great emphasis
on each leg and the use of vivid color used in the designs to highlight symbols and motifs
(MET). The vivacious hues and shades certainly add to this piece of furniture and compliment
any room with wooden floors and other wooden furniture . Furniture as décor was a major
factor when it came to filling a room. It was during this time that smaller, more mobile pieces of
furniture had to compliment bigger furniture that was placed around the perimeter of the room
(Hellman 419). Simply, furniture in general had to compliment its surrounding space and
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convey value of the host family among guests. In comparison to other pieces of furniture during
this time, “furniture structured the appearance of individuals in society according to culturally
specific codes of social conduct” (Kisluk-Grosheide). This mechanical dressing table and other
similar pieces of furniture established a family or individual on a certain pedestal in society not
only through the quality of how the table was crafted but through the symbols and motifs
etched into the furniture as well as on the walls of the room. Dressing tables, such as these,
surely present themselves in prestigious upper class form, communicating among guests the
importance of its owner.
This dressing table also plays a dual purpose, not only as a decorative piece to a room,
but functions in an ingeniously well-designed manner for its owner to use. This mechanical
dressing table allows the owner, Madame Pompadour, to use a key to unlatch a mechanism
from one of the sides that doubles the surface area of the table. When unlatched, “the top of
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the dressing table slides back while a drawer underneath comes forward revealing many
compartments” (Ramond 147). The drawers are lined with silk and divided into shaped
compartments that are thought to have contained deep saucers, cups, a powder box, lacquer
needle case, letters and cosmetics. “Through strategically designed aspects of form and
function, furniture appeared to accommodate and flatter its users as they pursed such activities
as reading, writing, conversing, eating, dressing and game playing” (Hellman 416). The
functions of this table varied for storage use, dressing purposes, and as a place to read and
write, but it is important to notice that Oeben placed much thought amongst creating this
table. The sliding mechanisms, as well as, the compartments that open up are smartly placed
allowing Madame Pompadour to access her things with one key. In addition, “one is able to set
the inner center part of the table on an incline to allow for easier reading or for one to place a
mirror on” (Wilson 54). Overall, the layout and structure of the table provides a good amount
of storage, in addition to serving as a spacious dressing table with its increased area space,
compartment area, and the centerpiece incline. Oeben’s design was crafty and is said to have
influenced fashions of cabinetmaking outside of France. The Metropolitan Museum of Art even
states “the most beautiful and refined furniture having the highest level of artistic and technical
ability was created in Paris during the 18th century.” This mechanical dressing table proves that
décor can be incredibly functional while depicting an incredible amount of aesthetic.
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Certainly, this table has many features and purposes to its owner as a decorative piece
and as a functional tool. Historically, this table permanently represents the personality of
Madame Pompadour with flowers and trophies that come to portray her love of architecture,
painting, music, and gardening. Socially, furniture at this time “made by Jean Francois Oeben,
brought beauty and functionality to a whole new level” (Chastang 124). With so much
production in furniture in the 18th century, the design and dual purpose of this mechanical table
is what made this piece stand out. Its structure and mechanisms allowing its surface area to be
doubled was inventive, and with its spacious compartments as well as its inner center piece
that was moveable and adjustable to one’s liking, this mechanical dressing table is enormously
different from furniture in today’s world. With exception to decoration and functionality,
furniture today does not have the very essence of one’s character etched and painted along its
surface and its sides. The representational value that furniture was given in the 18 th century
gave meaning in designing and creating furniture and helped fully complete a room filled with
other complementary pieces that signify one’s value and personality. This mechanical table, as
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well as other similar pieces during this time, give cabinetmaking a whole new meaning with its
purpose to add value to its user or owner (Hughes 53). Without a doubt, the decorative aspect
with its vivid colors draws the eye, but also its inventive, functional feature was most certainly
purposeful. Simply, the makeup of this table indeed implies of Madame Pompadour’s
character, and with its beautiful structure and innovative purpose, Oeben’s mechanical table
immensely differs from furniture in today’s world with symbols, structure, and craft.
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Bibliography
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Marqueteur,” Furniture History 43 (2007): 115-126, accessed December 3, 2013, doi:
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Hellman, Mimi. "Furniture, Sociability, and the Work of Leisure in Eighteenth-Century France,”
Eighteenth-Century Studies 32 (1999): 415-445, accessed December 3, 2013, doi:
10.2307/30053926
Hughes, Peter. “A Mechanical Table attributed to J.-F. Oeben in the Wernher Collection,”
Apollo: The International Magazine of Art and Antiques 155 (2002): 52-54
Kisluk-Grosheide, Danielle O. "French Royal Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum," The
Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 63 (2006), accessed December 3, 2013,
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ffurn/hd_ffurn.htm
Ramond, Pierre. Masterpieces of Marquetry, (California: Paul Getty Trust, 2001), 144-147.
Rieder, William. "A table for Madame de Pompadour+ French 18th-century furniture."
MAGAZINE ANTIQUES 151, no. 1 (1997): 226-229
"Stamped by Jean-François Oeben and Roger Vandercruse Lacroix: Mechanical table
(1982.60.61)," In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. (2006), accessed December 3, 2013,
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1982.60.61
Wilson, Gillian. Selections from The Decorative Arts in the J. Paul Getty Museum (1983), 54.