Portrait of Jacques Roettiers (1707-1784), half-length, in a mauve jacket, holding a medallion

Jacques Roettiers was one of the most celebrated silver- and goldsmiths at the court of Louis XV. Son of Norbert Roettiers, a celebrated medal and currency engraver of Flemish origins, and Winifred Clarke, a niece of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Roettiers distinguished himself from an early age at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, where his talents won him a place as a pensionnaire du Roi at the French Academy in Rome. Rather than taking up this position, Roettiers chose to remain in Paris, learning medal engraving from his father. In 1732 he crossed the Channel to become Engraver of the Royal Mint in London, a post he held for a year before returning to his native Paris where he became a master silversmith. That same year he married the daughter Nicolas Besnier, whose position as goldsmith to the king Roettiers would take over in 1737. Here van Loo has chosen to depict his sitter holding an engraver's tool and a small medallion, likely out of respect to his paternal origins. However, by 1735, the date at which the painting was executed, Roettiers had already moved beyond his more humble artistic beginnings, having designed a complete table service for Louis, Dauphin of France. The following year he would create the piece held by most to be his chef-d'œuvre, a silver surtout de table depicting a hunting scene, commissioned by Louis Henri, duc de Bourbon, and now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.