Armorial panel of the Drei Ehrengesellschaften Kleinbasels (three honourable societies of Kleinbasel)

Description

From 1841 the three 'honourable societies' of Kleinbasel, 'zum Rebhaus', 'zur Hären and 'zum Greifen', historic associations which carried out mainly political and economic functions (see also no. 281), owned a joint club house on the right bank of the Rhine by the bridgehead. There was a banqueting room on the first floor of this late Neoclassical building constructed to designs by the city surveyor, Amadeus Merian, and this glass painting was part of the original decor. The glass painter Adolf Mieg arranged the honorary symbols of the corporations, the lion (Rebhaus), the wildman (Hären) and the griffin (Greifen), who took part in the 'Vogel Gryff' procession held in Kleinbasel at the beginning of each year, in a harmonious group beneath a trefoil arch. The slender trellis frame is reminiscent of the Byzantine-Moorish facade of the new building designed by Merian, and the panorama shown through a triple arcade entwined with a vine keeps more or less to the view which could be seen through the window of their banqueting room by the members of the societies sitting at their table.