Churches and cloisters were popular last resting places until well into the nineteenth century, at least for the elite. First and foremost among them was Basel Cathedral, where this finial bearing the Wettstein (pomegranate, left) and Zäslin (bull’s head, right) coats of arms is thought to have adorned the tomb of Professor Johann Wettstein (1614–1684). He was the son of Basel Burgomaster Johann Rudolf Wettstein (1594–1666) and a professor of theology at Basel University. The other finial also comes from the cathedral, from the tomb of Niklaus Harscher (1683–1742), a physician and professor of history and rhetoric.
The relief on the right comes from the tombstone of Hans Heinrich Falkner (1592–1661, central coat of arms with falcon) in the Peterskirche. He was the chief guild master, whose first wife, Margaretha Wohnlich (1592–1629, coat of arms on the left), bore him eight children. He married his second wife, Dorothea Ryff (1612–1684, coat of arms on the right), in 1635.