of Lauderdale,’ 1672. 13. ‘Nautical School Medal’ and ‘Mathematical Medal’ for Christ's Hospital, 1673. 14. ‘Sir Samuel Morland,’ 1681. 15. ‘Duke of Beaufort,’ 1682. 16. ‘Charles II,’ 1683 (?); rev. royal arms. 17. ‘Coronation Medals of James II,’ 1685. 18. ‘Coronation Medal of William and Mary,’ 1689. 19. Dies and puncheons for intended medals of the Duchesses of Richmond, Cleveland, Portsmouth, and Mazarin (1667?–1675).
John Roettiers's usual signature on medals is ‘J. R.’ in monogram. He also signs ROTI.; ROETTI; IAN. R.; JOAN. ROTI. Little is known of his work as a gem-cutter. Walpole (Anecdotes of Painting, ii. 187) mentions a cornelian seal by him with the heads of Mars and Venus. Many dies and puncheons executed by John Roettiers and his relatives were purchased from the Roettiers family by a Mr. Cox, and were by him sold in 1828 to Matthew Young, the coin dealer, who, after striking some impressions for sale, presented them in 1829 to the British Museum.
John Roettiers married, in 1658, Catherine Prost, by whom he had five daughters and three sons: John (b. 1661?), James [q. v.], and Norbert [q. v.] John Roettiers (the younger), unlike his two brothers, does not appear to have been a medallist. The committee of the House of Commons concerning the abstraction of the dies reported (2 Feb. 1696–7) that this younger John was suspected of participation in the conspiracy of Rookwood and Bernado, ‘the assassinators,’ ‘having at that time provided himself of horses and arms at his own house in Essex, where he entertained very ill company, to the great terror of the neighbourhood.’ A warrant for high treason was out against him, ‘but he is fled from justice’ [see under Rookwood, Ambrose].
[The principal authority for the life of John Roettiers and for the complicated history of the Roettiers family is Burn's Memoir of the Roettiers in the Numismatic Chronicle, iii. 158 sq. See also Numismatic Chronicle, ii. 199, iii. 56; Hawkins's Medallic Illustrations, ed. Franks and Grueber; Advielle's Notices sur les Roettiers in the Report of the Réunion des Sociétés des Beaux-Arts, May 1888 (Paris, 1888); Jouin and Mazerolle, Les Roettiers (Mâcon, 1894); Guiffrey in Revue Numismatique, 1889, 1891; Revue belge de Numismatique, 1895, pp. 282 f.; Walpole's Anecd. of Painting, ed. Wornum; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1661–9; Cal. Treasury Papers, 1695–1702.]
ROETTIERS, NORBERT (1665?–1727), medallist, the third son of John Roettiers [q. v.], the medallist, was probably born at Antwerp in 1665. He assisted his father at the English mint in making dies and puncheons from about 1684, and in 1690 was officially employed as an assistant engraver at the mint, together with his elder brother James [see Roettiers, James, (1663–1698)]. He was an ardent Jacobite, and, according to Walpole (Anecdotes of Painting, ii. 186), was suspected by persons with ‘penetrating eyes’ of having introduced a small satyr's head within the head of William III on the English copper coinage of 1694. The existence of the satyr is more than doubtful, and, in any case, James, and not Norbert, Roettiers had the principal hand in the coinage. It is however certain that Norbert left the country about 1695, and attached himself to the Stuarts at St. Germain. He made several medals for the Stuart family (1697–1720) and their adherents, and was appointed ‘engraver of the mint’ by the elder Pretender. He made (1709) the English ‘crown-piece,’ with the effigy and titles of James III (Numismatic Chronicle, 1879, p. 135, pl. v. 3) and the Scottish ‘coins’ (1716) with the pretender's title of ‘James VIII.’ He was appointed engraver-general of the French mint in succession to his uncle, Joseph Roettiers, who died in 1703, and in 1722 became a member of the French Academy of Painting and Sculpture. He described himself officially as ‘Graveur général des monnaies de France et d'Angleterre.’ He died at his country seat at Choisy-sur-Seine on 18 May 1727.
His principal medals, generally signed N. R., are as follows: 1. ‘Memorial of Charles I,’ rev. ‘Rex pacificus.’ 2. Portrait of Queen Mary (Medallic Illustrations, ii. 106). 3. ‘Death of Mary’ (with James Roettiers), 1694–5. 4. Medal of Charles I, rev. ‘Virtutem ex me,’ &c. (with James Roettiers), 1694–5. 5. Prince James, rev. Ship in storm, 1697. 6. Prince James, rev. Dove, 1697. 7. Medals of James II and Prince James, 1699. 8. Succession of Prince James, 1699. 9. Portrait of William III (plaque). 10. Portrait of Queen Anne. 11. James III protected by Louis XIV, 1704. 12. James III, ‘Restoration of Kingdom,’ rev. map, 1708. 13. ‘Claim of elder Pretender,’ rev. Sheep feeding, 1710. 14. James III and Princess Louisa, 1712. 15. ‘Birth of the Young Pretender,’ 1720. He probably also made the touchpiece of James III (1708?), and a few other medals are attributed to him in the ‘Revue Numismatique’ (1891, p. 325).
Norbert Roettiers married, first, Elizabeth Isard; secondly, Winifred, daughter of Francis Clarke, an Englishman living at St. Germain.
