Johann Daniel Schäffler was born in Dresden in 1659. Helmut Seling provides an extensive list of known artworks by this master, mainly secular table silver and sets comprising ewers and basins, which can be found in the Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna or in the Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden.

The christening set was owned for three generations by the Dukes of Teck, a family related to the Kings of Württemberg but living in London. Among those who were christened with this set were Mary of Teck, later the British Queen Mary, and her son, the later King Edward VIII, who famously abdicated the throne.

The names of the baptised children are engraved on the back of the basin below their father’s initials, ‘FT’ under a prince’s crown: the monogram of Fürst (Prince) Francis of Teck (1837-1900). In 1866, he had married Princess Mary Adelaide (1833-1897), a daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850), the youngest brother of King George IV and King William IV of England as well as of Duke Edward of Kent, the father of Queen Victoria. Thus, the family resided in England, where the children grew up as close relatives of the Royal family. Their names are engraved below the monogram:

• Victoria Mary (1867-1953) of Teck married George Duke of York in 1893, the son of King Edward VII of England. When he was crowned King George V in 1910, she became ‘Queen Mary’, grandmother of Queen Elisabeth II of England.

• Adolphus (1868-1927) succeeded his father as Duke of Teck

• Francis (1870-1910) of Teck died unmarried at the age of 40.

• Alexander (1874-1957) of Teck became the Earl of Athlone in 1917.

Four other names from the grandchildren's generation are marked under a cross-stitch beneath the names of Francis' four children: Firstly, the eldest son of Victoria Mary, who was not yet ‘Queen Mary of England’ at the time:

• Edward of York (1894-1972) was born into this title when his parents were still the Duke and Duchess of York; he succeeded his father George V in 1936 as King Edward VIII. However, as his relationship with Wallis Simpson was considered inappropriate, he became the first British king to abdicate the throne voluntarily - one of the most well-known stories about the Royal family at all.

There are no other children of Queen Mary listed on the back of the basin; Edward’s name is followed instead by the children of Mary’s brother Adolphus:

• George of Teck (1895-1981)

• Mary of Teck (1897-1981)

• Helena of Teck (1899-1969)