Armorial panel of the Counts of Thierstein

Description

This well preserved glass painting displays the coat of arms of the old Thierstein dynasty from the Upper Rhine in front of a light damascene background surrounded by an arch of filigree acanthus leaves. The helm of the Pfeffingen branch of the family, a female torso with a crown and a pair of antlers adorned with roses, surmounts the escutcheon of a red hind on a triple peak. This powerful noble family had a final period of glory in the reign of Graf Oswald I of Thierstein who as Austrian 'Landvogt' in Alsace, Sundgau and Breisgau held the office of imperial councillor. In 1480 Oswald I transferred the family seat from Pfeffingen to Haul Koenigsbourg which had been granted to him as an imperial fief by Emperor Frederick III. The family died out in 1519 on the death of his son Henry, the putative donor of this panel, whose possessions were divided between the cities of Basle and Solothurn and the bishop of Basle.