Johann Samuel Beckensteiner German silver-gilt chalice

armorial engraved

Exh. Cat. Couven-Museum Aachen, 2003, no. 148

The arms are those of von Roggendorf. The family was from Styria and ruled the Lower Austria since the mid 15th century, whose celebrated member was Wilhelm Freiherr von Roggendorf (1481–1541). The latter was Stadtholder of Friesland between 1517 and 1520, and then Hofmeister of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. He was elevated to the rank of baron in 1521 and became a count in 1537. The family extinguished with its title at the end of the 19th century.
Johann Samuel Beckensteiner of Nuremburg, the son of a goldsmith, became a master goldsmith on 12 August 1743. He was head of the goldsmiths’ guild in 1761 and in 1773 and died in 1781.